Dr. Hadjipanayis is a Professor and the L. Dade Lunsford Chair in Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He serves as the Executive Vice-Chair for the Dept. of Neurological Surgery and is the Director of the Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He is also the Co-Director of the  UPMC Brain Tumor Center and Director of the Brain Tumor Nanotechnology Laboratory at the Hillman Cancer Center. He was recruited back to the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 after serving as Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Director of Neurosurgical Oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.

In 2006, Dr. Hadjipanayis completed his neurosurgical training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center under the mentorship of Dr. L. Dade Lunsford. During his residency, he was able to secure NIH funding (T32) that led to the successful completion of a doctorate (Ph.D.) in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry with Dr. Neal DeLuca at the University of Pittsburgh focused on viral gene therapy of glioblastoma. Dr. Hadjipanayis has continued his work as a neurosurgeon-scientist focusing on novel translational treatments of brain tumors and obtaining further NIH and nonprofit funding. The Brain Tumor Nanotechnology Laboratory he directs has mentored a number of students and neurosurgery residents. Dr. Hadjipanayis has served as a permanent NIH study section member with the Radiation Therapeutics and Biology (RTB) group and currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Neurosurgery and the Journal of Neuro-Oncology. Dr. Hadjipanayis has been involved with educational initiatives in organized neurosurgery that include the AANS, CNS, NREF, and the SNS.

He currently serves on the Executive Council for the SNS as the Chair of the Research Subcommittee and is directing the Neurosurgeon-Scientist Training Program (NSTP) with Dr. Linda Liau. Dr. Hadjipanayis is the Chair-elect for the AANS/CNS Executive Committee for the Section on Tumors. Dr. Hadjipanayis has been a tireless brain tumor advocate serving on the boards of the nonprofits StacheStrong and the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation. He has been the PI of multiple clinical trials focused on gliomas. He was the first to use Gleolan and perform FGS on a glioma patient in the US and helped lead the FDA approval in the US of 5-ALA (Gleolan) for glioma surgery in June of 2017. He has formally trained neurosurgeons on the use of 5-ALA FGS with live surgeries, instructional lectures, and symposia. Costas and his wife, Lorraine, enjoy traveling with their 3 children, Panikos, Athena, and Elias, to Greece and Cyprus in the summer.