Peter Jannetta

Peter Joseph Jannetta (April 5, 1932 – April 11, 2016) was an American neurosurgeon known for devising microvascular decompression, a surgical procedure to treat trigeminal neuralgia. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he was the first Walter Dandy Professor of Neurological Surgery.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Jannetta graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an undergraduate degree and a medical degree. He stayed at Penn for training as a general surgeon, then completed a National Institutes of Health fellowship in neurophysiology before training as a neurosurgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1995, he spent a year as Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Jannetta received a Horatio Alger Award in 1990. The Karolinska Institute honored him with the Herbert Olivecrona Award in 1983. He was married twice, first to history professor Ann Bowman Jannetta, then to art critic Diana Rose Jannetta. He is survived by his six children: Susan, Joanne, Carol, Peter, Elizabeth, and Michael.

Dr. Jannetta served as the Secretary of Health for the state of Pennsylvania during the term of Governor Tom Ridge from 1995 to 1996.

Death Jannetta suffered a head injury after a fall in his home in Pittsburgh and died on April 11, 2016, six days after his 84th birthday.