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Dr. Jason Cormier of Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital joins Discover Lafayette to share his phenomenal story of success as well as overcoming trials and tribulations. He is not only a renowned neurosurgeon, but he is also a race car driver, accomplished musician, inventor, and author of the newly released "Driven" which he wrote to encourage others on ways to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.



A native of Lafayette, Dr. Cormier is a graduate of St. Thomas More. At LSU, he played point guard alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Jackson under the tutelage of Coach Dale Brown and played pro ball for a brief time in Europe. He went on to graduate from LSU Med School and was a neurosurgery resident at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for six years where he trained in complex spinal surgery. 



Dr. Cormier has been named one of America’s top Surgeons in the field of neurosurgery by the Consumers Research Council and Guide to America’s Top Surgeons and has worked extensively with Traumatic Brain Injuries and assists NCAA Football, the NFL, NASCAR, the Jockey’s Guild, various rodeo organizations and other sports representing athletes in high-contact sports.  



Since 2014, he has been listed in the “Leading Physicians of the World” for Neurosurgery, and recognized as an international expert in brain injury and concussion. He has been awarded the Castle Connolly Top Doctor in the field of Neurosurgery, and recently served as the 19th President of the Society of Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, an international organization working with experts to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients afflicted with neurological disorders.



Humble in the recounting of his story, Dr. Cormier says, "No one stressed education more than my mother" who taught science at UL-Lafayette and at Lafayette High for many years. He wanted to play in the NBA but when his career was cut short his mom pushed him to pursue higher education. Always being good in science, medicine was a natural fit.



Specializing in complex brain surgery which includes vascular neurosurgery and arteriovenous malformation (a tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins, which disrupts normal blood flow and oxygen circulation), Dr. Cormier says he handles about 95% of the aneurisms that come into Lafayette. He also performs minimally invasive procedures to take out tumors in the brain and treats brain trauma.




Dr. Jason Cormier is proud of the team he works with at Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital and gives them much credit: "It's a team effort. You can't do it alone in a silo as one human being. You need a team. I tell every single patient I operate on that I have a good team backing me up and that I have the good Lord. I believe that from start to finish when you walk in the door. Buffy Domingue, CEO, and her administrative team are also a big part of that."




Dr. Cormier credits Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital for being the first to bring in the MiRus IO Expandable Lumbar Interbody technology which allows him to perform less invasive spinal neurosurgery on people suffering from degenerative disc disease. Cleared for use by the FDA in August 2021, the MiRus IO allows the surgeon to enter collapsed disc space and expand it by inserting the device into the disc. This minimally invasive procedure calls for a 26 mm incision versus the traditional 26-inch incision. When operating in a small corridor such as allowed by the MiRus IO, outcomes are dramatically changed for spinal surgery patients. There is less blood loss, the patient can get up and walk on the same day as the procedure, and there is a reduced need for pain medications.




The MiRus IO Expandable Lumbar Interbody Technology utilizes MoRe® Rhen...