Children's Hospital Boston Names Alan R. Cohen, MD, New Neurosurgeon-in-Chief

BOSTON, Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Alan R. Cohen, MD, has been named Neurosurgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Children's Hospital Boston's Department of Neurosurgery. Children's Department of Neurosurgery is the largest and most specialized team of pediatric neurosurgeons in the world and was recently ranked first among children's hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

Dr. Cohen joins Children's from UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio where he was the Chief of Pediatric Neurological Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief for 17 years. Cohen is a leader in developing minimally invasive techniques to enhance the safety and efficacy of selected neurosurgical procedures in pediatrics. Cohen has had a national leadership role in the field of pediatric neurosurgery, serving as chair of the AANS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery and as a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. He also directs the annual Practical Course on Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery sponsored by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons for the past 18 years.

"Children's Hospital Boston is an internationally renowned hospital and has the premier pediatric neurosurgery team," said Dr. Cohen. "It is my great privilege and honor to lead the most sophisticated neurosurgery program in the United States and to continue to build on the ground breaking work of Dr. Michael Scott."

A recognized leader in neurosurgery, Dr. Scott will remain at Children's. During his tenure as Neurosurgeon-in-Chief, the Department of Neurosurgery has become a leader in surgical innovation developing pial synangiosis for Moyamoya syndrome and nationally-recognized advances in tumor, spinal, vascular, craniofacial endoscopic and epilepsy neurosurgery. The department also boasts the first pediatric intraoperative 1.5 tesla MRI suite (MR/OR), which allows MRI imaging before, during and after surgery. Scott also established the Shillito Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship in 1991, which supports an outstanding young neurosurgeon every year as he or she pursues intensive, post-graduate clinical training at Children's.

"The patients we treat and the trainees we instruct are a constant source of renewal. The young faces that come through my office door always remind me of why I'm a pediatric neurosurgeon practicing at Children's Hospital Boston," says Dr. Scott.

Building on Dr. Scott's leadership, Dr. Cohen plans to establish a new Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Laboratory at Children's with a research fellowship. The new laboratory will seek to advance the  field of minimally invasive pediatric neurosurgery by developing tools, techniques and practices that will improve the quality and effectiveness of care while lowering cost.

Cohen is a graduate of Harvard University and Cornell University School of Medicine. He also received additional specialty training at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, New York University and The National Hospital in London, England.

Shenandoah "Dody" Robinson, MD, will also  join the Department of Neurosurgery. Dr. Robinson has been the surgical director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, and a nationally recognized expert in the treatment of epilepsy and spasticity. She is an NIH-funded researcher whose work has focused on methods for brain protection in newborns.

Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston has been ranked as one of the nation's best pediatric hospitals by U.S.News & World Report for the past 21 years. Children's is the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest provider of health care to Massachusetts children. In addition to 396 pediatric and adolescent inpatient beds and 228 outpatient programs, Children's houses the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries benefit both children and adults. More than 1,100 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and nine members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.

Contact:
Erin Tornatore
Children's Hospital Boston
617-919-3110
[email protected]

SOURCE Children's Hospital Boston