Elected: 2017

Michelle Clarke was born in 1977 in Winnipeg, Canada. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in aerospace engineering and a certificate in engineering biology in 1998. While at Princeton, she was a member of the crew team, a sport enjoyed since the age of eleven. Michelle then attended Georgetown University School of Medicine, graduating in 2002. She was a resident in neurologic surgery at Mayo Clinic from 2002 to 2009, during which time she did a research fellowship in oncology with the department of neurology. Following this she did a complex spinal oncology fellowship with Dr. Ziya Gokaslan at Johns Hopkins University from 2009 to 2010.

Upon completion of the fellowship, Michelle returned to the Department of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic Rochester. Pursuing her interest in bioethics, Michelle obtained a master's degree from Loyola University Chicago in 2016. She rose to become professor of clinical neurosurgery in 2017. She was program director of the neurologic surgery residency from 2014-2016, and is currently the program director of the complex spine fellowship. Dr. Clarke is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgery, the Neurological Society of America, and the Society of Neurological Surgeons.

Michelle's research interests include education science, spine and spine oncology outcomes, and bioethics. She has received a Mayo Clinic Education Science Career Development Award due to her interest in evidence-based education. Michelle is married to Andy Foy, a pediatric neurosurgeon, and has one daughter, Annika. While Michelle's activities include rowing and art, those have taken a backseat to Annika's interests in a wide variety of sports, music, and academic pursuits while her daughter is too young to have a driver's licence.