Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali ZIRH was born on October 8, 1960, in Ankara, Türkiye and completed his primary and secondary education in the same city. He graduated from Ankara Atatürk High School with first place, and he entered the Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. He graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine on August 31st, 1983, as a medical doctor. Between the years 1983 and 1985, he carried out his state service obligation in Gaziantep and was rewarded with a commendation by the Provincial Authority for his work in this period. He completed his military service in Istanbul in 1987 and was discharged.

In 1988, he started his specialization at Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery. In 1990, he attended the British Council in Glasgow and Edinburgh; the European Neurosurgery Association (EANS) in Warnemünde, Germany in 1989; Zaragoza, Spain in 1991; Jerusalem, Israel in 1992; Brugge, Belgium in 1993; and in 1994, he attended the World Neurosurgery Association (WFNS) training courses in Antalya, Turkey.

He visited and participated in clinical studies at Glasgow Institute of Neurological Sciences in 1990, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburg in 1992, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia in 1992, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Washington in 1992, Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital in 1994, Department of Neurosurgery and The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1994.

He became a neurosurgeon in February 1994. He completed his master’s degree in neurophysiology at Marmara University Health Sciences Institute in March 1994. In September 1994, he completed the fifth of the European Neurosurgery Association’s (EANS) training courses in Izmir, took the exams, and received his EANS diploma. On the same date, he participated in the European Board of Neurosurgery Primary Examination, passed successfully and certified.

In line with his field of interest, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, he attended training courses on “Stereotactic Target Calculation” and “Neurostimulation for Pain” in Çeşme İzmir in September 1994, “Stereotactic Neurosurgery Hands-On” in New-Orleans USA in November 1994, “Augmentative Procedures for Pain” in San Francisco USA in October 1995, “Stereotactic Neurosurgery Hands” in New Orleans-USA in November 1995 , “Deep Brain Stimulation for Treating Parkinson’s Disease” in Minneapolis-USA in May 1996, “Interventional Therapies Workshop: Implantable Spinal Cord Stimulation and Drug Infusion Systems” in Washington-USA in May 1996, “Surgical Treatment for Movement Disorders” and” Interventional Therapies in Chronic Pain Management” in Montreal-Canada in October 1996, “Management of Patients with Deep-Brain Stimulators, Expert Course and Workshop”  in Kiel-Germany in June 2001.

Dr. Ali ZIRH returned from the United States in 1997 and started to work at the VKV American Hospital, performing functional neurosurgery interventions and DBS procedures with the Microelectrode Recording and Stimulation technique at the single cell level, which is available in only a few centers in the world.

He started to work at Medicalpark Bahçelievler Hospital as of January 2009 and implemented these initiatives in a health institution where patients covered by social security system. Between 2015-2023 he had his surgical interventions at Medipol Bağcılar Hospital. Since 1 April, 2024 he is under the umbrella of Medipol Acıbadem District Hospital which is new VIP hospital of Medipol Healthcare Group.

As of September 2018, he continues his academic and clinical studies at Medipol University’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center (PARMER).

Over 30 years of clinical and surgical experience in the field of functional neurosurgery, more than 1900 surgical interventions for Parkinson’s and other movement disorder diseases and more than 1400 DBS surgeries that he has successfully performed, made Dr. Ali ZIRH the first name that comes to mind in movement disorder surgery in Turkey and the adjacent geography. He enabled the center where he performs these surgeries to become a Training and Reference Center in the international arena.

Dr. Ali ZIRH is a member of the Turkish Neurosurgery Association, Parkinson’s Disease Association, European Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, American Academy of Advancement of Science, World Federation of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, International Association for the Study of Pain, American Pain Society, World Neuromodulation, American Neuromodulation Society, American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, The Movement Disorder Society, American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). At the international congresses and symposiums of these organizations held in different parts of the world at least 4-5 times a year, Dr. Zirh shares his experiences with other colleagues and follows the progress and developments in his field of expertise day by day.

Dr. Ali ZIRH has many publications published in international journals, eight book chapters, more than 150 congress papers and various national / international awards.