UR Medicine / Neurosurgery / Services / Pediatric Neurosurgery
Pediatric Neurosurgery
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(585) 273-1606
Based in the Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Pediatric Neurosurgery program offers the most advanced care of its kind in the region. Our program cares for children who are suffering from a wide variety of brain and spinal cord pathology. We work closely with a broad team of other medical and surgical sub-specialists to take care of your child. At the same time we also know that you understand your child the best, and we make a special effort to include you in creating a personalized plan of care for your child to ensure that your child’s individual needs are met.
Why Choose URMC Neurosurgery?
We are the only program in the region that offers dedicated multidisciplinary clinics for children with a variety of conditions including:
- Traumatic brain and head injuries
- Tumors of the central nervous system
- Hydrocephalus
- Craniosynostosis
- Congenital malformations of the brain and spine
- Spasticity
- Intractable epilepsy
- Spina bifida and congenital spinal disorders
- Pediatric cerebrovascular malformations and anomalies
Our Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery uses the most advanced technology to provide surgical efficacy and safety. This includes state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging, intraoperative neuro-navigational guidance, neurophysiological monitoring, robots, endoscopes, and lasers to provide the most current, effective surgery. Together, our group performs >180 surgeries in children age 21 and younger annually. Many of our interventions are done in the Mildred Levine Pediatric Surgical Suite; a facility specially designed with the comfort and needs of children in mind.
Our highly experienced team make every effort to be available immediately to meet your child’s and family’s needs with outreach clinics spread throughout the region and telemedicine visits with our providers. Furthermore, our team embraces a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to care. We work with a number of other subspecialists at GCH to provide comprehensive programs for:
- Pediatric Brain Tumor Program
- Pediatric Craniofacial Program
- Pediatric Epilepsy Program
- Pediatric Spasticity and Movement Disorder Program with the Kirsch Clinic
- Comprehensive Spina Bifida Care
In everything we do, we prioritize your child and are able to combine the most advanced evidence based neurosurgical treatments with true compassion for your child and your family.
Our Team
With their decades of experience our team has developed a nationally recognized neurosurgical program to give your child the best chance of cure and recovery.
- Howard J. Silberstein, M.D. is the Staff Neurosurgeon at the Golisano Children’s Hospital. He completed his neurosurgery training at the University of Connecticut/Hartford Hospital and a fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. He has been part of the URMC faculty since 1999.
- Melissa A. LoPresti, M.D., M.P.H. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester. Her clinical and research interests include pediatric neurosurgery, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, cerebrovascular disease, hydrocephalus, and public health in pediatric neurosurgery.
- Webster H. Pilcher, M.D., Ph.D. is the Ernest & Thelma Del Monte Distinguished Professor in Neuromedicine and Chairman of Neurosurgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Pilcher developed a nationally recognized epilepsy monitoring and surgery program at URMC and has published extensively on the topic. He has been part of the URMC faculty since 1990.
Advanced Practice Providers
Conditions We Treat
Below is a listing of the conditions treated by the Pediatric Neurosurgery program. Please contact us, or click on a condition to read more about the condition in a new window.
- Brain and Spine Injuries
- Tumors of the Central Nervous System
- Hydrocephalus
- Craniosynostosis
- Spasticity
- Intractable Epilepsy
- Spina Bifida
- Myelomeningocele
- Cerebrovascular Malformations
- Craniofacial Disorders
Greyson's Story
Santina's Story
Contact us
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact us at (585) 273-1606.
The Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery is located at the Golisano Children’s Hospital, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY.