PEDIATRIC NEUROSURGERY
The Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at UAB and Children’s of Alabama (COA) hospital operates one of the
most robust and academically productive pediatric neurosurgery services in North America. The division is
characterized by a vigorous clinical program, in which four dual-board-certified pediatric neurosurgeons and
their teams complete 850-1,000 pediatric neurosurgical procedures each year. Services offered cover the entire
spectrum of clinical care and incorporate the most contemporary, innovative, and technologically advanced care
available. Our unwavering focus is on children who need neurosurgical care and their families.
Our research activities are vast. We are involved in a variety of collaborative and registry-based studies and
characteristically demonstrate the highest rates of enrollment in multi-center registries. We participate in the
Hydrocephalus Research Network, the Park-Reeves Chiari Network, the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry,
and collaborative research initiatives with colleagues at Yale University, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
Weill-Cornell, and Baylor Medical Center.
With an ongoing collaborative clinical partnership with the two pediatric neurosurgery programs in Vietnam,
global neurosurgery is a priority to the division. Our faculty visit their center several times per year to operate
and teach, and their surgeons and providers visit UAB regularly for ongoing education and training. The Global
Surgery Fund at Children’s of Alabama hospital is directed by James Johnston, MD, and is one of the most active
and well-financed global surgery programs in the world.
WHY UAB
The division has an exceptional, 25-plus-year record of consistent academic excellence. Each year, more than 40
papers or book chapters have been written, and two major textbooks addressing occult dysraphism and Chiari
malformations have been directed and edited by UAB pediatric neurosurgery faculty in the past five years. UAB
abstracts and presentations won all three of the quality awards at the 2018 Joint Pediatric Section of the American
Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons meeting. No other center has achieved
that since the inception of the awards.
The Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery fellowship continues to be one of the most sought-after and competitive
fellowships and every year receives applications from outstanding residents at the finest neurosurgery programs
in North America. Our fellow graduates have the highest rate of commitment to pure pediatric practice of any
fellowship program and consistently have gone on to distinguish themselves in positions of leadership in pediatric
neurosurgery. Most UAB Pediatric Neurosurgery graduates are in academic programs that teach new generations
of residents and fellows, while others serve on editorial boards or direct other pediatric neurosurgery programs.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Pediatric Neurosurgery attains UAB division status, the only pediatric surgical discipline to attain this status and
level of university recognition
• 850 pediatric neurosurgery cases annually, covering the full spectrum of highly complex pediatric neurosurgical
disease
• UAB presentations won all three awards at 2018 Pediatric Section meeting
• Lead author of publication of “Guidelines for Care of Spina Bifida Patients”
• UAB/Children’s of Alabama leads nation in development of transitional care for spina bifida, leading to multiple
invited lectureships and visiting professorships
• Global surgery program attained more than $2 million in funding
• Established collaborative research partnerships with major pediatric research centers doubling the size of our
research program
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UAB Neurosurgery Annual Report 2020