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Abbott Krieger was born in New York in 1939, received his undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College in 1959, and his medical degree in 1963, from New York Medical College. In 1970, he completed his Doctorate in Medical Science in Pharmacology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Abbott Krieger completed his neurosurgical residency in 1971, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was the last resident selected by Dr. Leo Davidoff for that program, and completed his training under Dr. Hubert Rosomoff. Prior to that, in 1966, he studied under a neurology fellowship at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London.

Dr. Krieger’s interest in respiration, specifically the abnormality related to sleep apnea, led him to study at the College of Physicians and Surgeons (1968-1970) under the direction of Dr. S.C. Wang. During this time he identified an ascending respiratory pathway in the spinal cord that plays a very important role in respiratory control. For this work which was the basis of his thesis, he received an award from New York Academy of Medicine.

Following his residency at Albert Einstein, Abbott Krieger, MD was invited to join the newly developing Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh, chaired by Dr. Peter Janetta. It was there that he was taught the technology of micro-neurosurgery. He was able to share his knowledge with his colleagues when he came to New Jersey in 1974, succeeding Dr. Harry A. Kaplan as Professor and Chief of Neurosurgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Here he had the opportunity to work with Drs. Kaplan and E. Jefferson Browder on the venous anatomy of the brain and clinical studies on the neurophysiology of respiration and cardiovascular regulation of the brain stem.

Under his leadership, University Hospital evolved from an inner city trauma facility to a sophisticated resource using state-of-the-art technology capable of handling classical neurosurgical problems. A full range of sophisticated neurosurgical procedures became available with faculty members utilizing the most modern techniques. This growth resulted in the hospital being designated as the Trauma Center for Northern New Jersey and the medical school being granted a residency training program in neurosurgery.