MUSC Health Neurosurgery at Hollings Cancer Center

Dr. Ben Allen Strickland's major area of clinical interest is brain, skull base, and pituitary surgery. His practice incorporates a variety of endoscopic and minimally invasive open neurosurgical techniques as well as stereotactic radiosurgery. He is a South Carolina native from Columbia. He graduated summa cum laude from Clemson University with a double major in Economics and Biology. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his neurosurgical training at the University of Southern California. He received advanced fellowship training in minimally invasive brain tumor and skull base oncology under Dr. Gabriel Zada. After residency, he completed an additional fellowship in skull base and cerebrovascular neurosurgery under Dr. Dan Barrow at Emory University. He is passionate about applying cutting-edge technology toward the comprehensive management of brain tumors to his patients. Dr. Strickland also has a strong academic interest in brain tumor and skull base surgery. During his training, he completed an NIH research year investigating differential epigenetic expression patterns in meningioma. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles and dozens of book chapters and has received several grants, mostly focusing on brain and skull base tumors. He runs a laboratory to translate basic cancer immunology into novel therapies against aggressive meningioma and glioblastoma. He aims to develop targeted immunotherapies against tumors not amendable to surgical interventions.

Dr. Sean Pennetti, M.D., joined the MUSC faculty in 2025 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery. He is board-certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, with a clinical focus on neuro-oncology. Dr. Pennetti grew up in Media, Pennsylvania, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Penn State University in 2010. He then completed a Master of Science in Pharmacology at Tulane University in New Orleans in 2012. He received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) from The Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Afterward, he completed his residency in neurology at Swedish Medical Center in Denver, CO, where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Pennetti completed his Fellowship in Neuro-Oncology at Yale University in 2025.