Joseph Madsen | Medical Services
Specialties
Programs & Services
- Epilepsy Center
- Fetal Care and Surgery Center
- Hydrocephalus Program
- Neuromotor Therapy Program
- Neurosurgery
- Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery
Languages
- English
Joseph Madsen | Education
Undergraduate School
University of Utah
1976, Salt Lake City, UT
Medical School
Harvard-MIT Program in Health, Science, and Technology
1981, Boston, MA
Internship
Surgery
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
1982, Boston, MA
Residency
Massachusetts General Hospital
1989, Boston, MA
Fellowship
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Massachusetts General Hospital
1983, Boston, MA
Joseph Madsen | Certifications
- American Board of Neurological Surgery
Joseph Madsen | Professional History
I am a pediatric neurosurgeon with a strong interest in innovative approaches to the dynamic brain maladies of children, especially epilepsy and hydrocephalus. My clinical efforts are closely tied to my research program, the Neurodynamics Laboratory.
I received my medical degree in 1981 from a joint program poised uniquely at the intersection between engineering and medicine, the Harvard-MIT Program in Health, Science and Technology. I hold the Webster Family Chair in Neurosurgery and Neuroengineering at Boston Children's Hospital, direct the hospital's Epilepsy Surgery Program and am an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. My work is multidisciplinary and focused on applying engineering and mathematical approaches to my practice.
I have brought several innovations to clinical practice. These include a new technique to monitor shunt flow in patients with hydrocephalus, including the use of cardiac-gated MRI scans, thermal detection of shunt flow, and a valve massager technology. I have also developed a new technique to predict seizure focus using intracranial data gathered from implanted electrodes, which will one day allow surgeons like myself to better plan epilepsy surgeries. My practice has grown in part because of successful patient approaches developed during planning of such research programs.
I also have a strong interest in improving pediatric neurosurgery and epilepsy surgery abroad, specifically in China. In that context, I have been an adjunct professor in functional neurosurgery at Xuanwu Hospital, affiliated with Capitol Medical University, Bejing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery. I have been specifically working on a mechanism to review surgical cases in real time with colleagues at Beijing's Children's Hospital.
Joseph Madsen | Media
Caregiver Profile
Meet Dr. Joseph Madsen
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Epilepsy Q&A: Understanding the anatomy of the brain
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Epilepsy Q&A: What is vagal nerve stimulation?
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Epilepsy Q&A: What is single stage resection?
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Epilepsy Q&A: How surgical techniques map the brain
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Epilepsy Q&A: What is a laser ablation?
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Epilepsy Q&A: What is a hemispherectomy?
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Epilepsy Q&A: What are the different types of epilepsy surgery?
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Epilepsy Q&A: What is a deep brain stimulator?
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Epilepsy Q&A: What is a corpus callosotomy?