Brain Center

Helping children and families with compassionate, expert care

Here at the Boston Children's Hospital Brain Center, our experienced clinicians treat each child as an individual—and involve the entire family in the treatment process.

Our caregivers are dedicated to providing outstanding medical and surgical care for your child, while offering essential support for your family.

The information on our web site will help you learn more about how the Brain Center helps children and families facing a broad spectrum of conditions, including:

Clinical highlights

• Our Brain Tumor Program, offered through Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center, is one of the largest programs of its type in the country.
  • We offer more Phase I clinical trials than any other program in New England, as well as access to the Northeast Proton Therapy Center.
     
• We are nationally recognized as a Level 4 Epilepsy Center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers for delivering the highest level of care, including comprehensive evaluation, testing, treatment and counseling for children with epilepsy and seizures.
   
• Our Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders, founded by renowned childhood sleep specialist and former director Richard A. Ferber, MD, is recognized as one of the leading pediatric sleep disorder programs in the United States.
   
• Our psychiatrist-in-chief, David DeMaso, MD, and his colleagues have helped develop the Experience Journal for children and caregivers living with conditions such as cerebral palsy and depression. This online resource offers candid thoughts from kids and families, as well as reflections from health care providers.
   
• We are the only center in the country with an outpatient addiction center for kids, the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP).

Recent news from Boston Children's Brain Center

U.S. News Ranking

Boston Children's departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery are ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report for the fourth year in a row! Learn more about our high scores in volume, infection prevention, and reputation. 

Dr. Benjamin Warf Among Winners of 2012 ‘Genius’ Grants

AANS Neurosurgeon reports in its “Who’s Making Headlines” section that Ben Warf, MD is a 2012 MacArthur grant award winner

For more news from Children's, check out our newsroom.

Stories from Children's patients

Elijah's story: Sweet Dreams

“We couldn’t consider it from a more favorable perspective.”

That’s how Kathy and Michael Cunningham describe their feelings about polysomnography (sleep study), now that their 5-year-old son, Elijah, has recently undergone the procedure at the Boston Children’s Hospital Sleep Laboratories.

The praise is even more compelling when you consider the source: Elijah’s dad is Michael J. Cunningham, MD, FACS, Boston Children’s otolaryngologist-in-chief.

In addition to talking in his sleep, Elijah had been waking repeatedly throughout the night—a potential symptom of what is called a “non-REM parasomnia” (sleep disruption that occurs outside of the deep, rapid-eye-movement stage of sleep), possibly related to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS)...Read the full story on Boston Children's Thriving blog.