Hydrocephalus Program

Clinicians

Joseph R. Madsen, MD

Joseph R. Madsen, MD, is a pediatric neurosurgeon who specializes in the treatment of hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and congenital malformations of the brain.

Madsen is also director of Boston Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Program and an associate professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.

Edward Robert Smith, MD

Edward Robert Smith, MD, is a pediatric neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment of:

• hydrocephalus
• tethered spinal cord syndrome,
• Moyamoya disease
• Arteriovenous malformations (AVM),
• cavernous malformations,
• stroke,
• brain tumors,
• craniopharyngiomas and pituitary disease.

He is the director of Children’s Pediatric Cerebrovascular Surgeryand co-director of our Center for Head, Neck and Skull Base,  as well as an assistant professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.

Benjamin C. Warf, MD

Benjamin C. Warf, MD, is a pediatric neurosurgeon and director of Neonatal and Congenital Anomaly Neurosurgery at Children’s. He is one of the world’s foremost practitioners of the endoscopic third ventriculostomy procedure to replace the use of shunts in some children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida.

Warf is committed to introducing this minimally invasive procedure in developing nations, where children's access to aftercare is severely limited.

He has helped build a neurosurgical hospital for children in Uganda, where he continues to train pediatric neurosurgeons.  Also an expert in treating cerebral palsy, Warf is an associate professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.

Researchers

Larry Benowitz, PhD

Larry Benowitz, PhD, director of Boston Children's Laboratories for Neuroscience Research in Neurosurgery, whose research focuses on the basic mechanisms that help nerve connections regrow after traumatic injury

 

Joseph Madsen, MD

Joseph Madsen, MD, Boston Children’s neurosurgeon, director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Program and director of the Neurodynamics Research Laboratory, who combines basic science and translational research to improve methods of mapping the brain
 

 R. Michael Scott, MD

R. Michael Scott, MD, Boston Children's Neurosurgeon-in-Chief-emeritus and Christopher R. Fellows Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery, who is examining growth factors found within cerebrospinal fluid and the role of these substances in the emergence of cerebrovascular disorders.
 

 Edward Robert Smith, MD

Edward Robert Smith, MD, Boston Children's neurosurgeon, director of Pediatric Cerebrovascular Surgery and co-director of the Center for Head, Neck and Skull Base, who is working to develop non-invasive biomarkers for detecting neurological disease and to better understand molecular mechanisms in brain tumors and cerebrovascular malformations.
 

Benjamin C Warf, MD 

Benjamin C. Warf, MD, Boston Children's neurosurgeon and director of Neonatal and Congenital Anomaly Neurosurgery, who is researching the emergence and prevalence of hydrocephalus and spina bifida, particularly in developing nations—as well as minimally invasive surgical approaches like endoscopic third ventriculostomy for these diseases