Samer K. Elbabaa, MD - Pediatric Neurosurgery

Dr. Samer Elbabaa is a board-certified pediatric neurosurgeon, chief of pediatric neurosurgery and president of the Orlando Health Children’s Neuroscience Institute, supported by the Leon Pediatric Neuroscience Fund. He also serves as co-director of fetal surgery at the Orlando Health Women’s Institute Fetal Care Center, which is committed to advancing the care of unborn babies through expanded treatment options. His expertise includes:

• Fetal Spina Bifida repair (Myelomenignocele repair)
• Pediatric brain tumor surgery
• Pediatric cerebrovascular and skull base surgery
• Fetal in-utero neurosurgery
• Cranio-cervical junctional anomalies
• Minimally invasive endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus
• Pediatric craniofacial surgery
• Pediatric epilepsy surgery
• Spinal cord tumor surgery
• Micro-neurosurgical and neuro-endoscopic approaches for complex pediatric neurosurgical conditions
• Spinal dysraphism

Dr. Elbabaa is considered one of the most experienced fetal neurosurgeons in the world, having performed more than 100 open fetal in-utero surgeries for spina bifida.

Dr. Elbabaa’s Training

Dr. Elbabaa received his medical training at The University of Jordan in Amman. He completed a neurosurgery residency at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He also earned a certification in microsurgery at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland.

About Dr. Elbabaa

Dr. Elbabaa is board certified by the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. He is a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and American College of Surgeons, and his professional memberships include the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons. Dr. Elbabaa serves on the executive boards of the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons and International Federation of Neuroendoscopy.

An internationally recognized neurosurgeon and accomplished researcher, Dr. Elbabaa frequently serves as a visiting professor and guest lecturer at scientific conferences, surgical training courses, symposia and universities worldwide. He has published, reviewed and edited for numerous textbooks and peer-reviewed medical journals, including World Neurosurgery, Child’s Nervous System and Pediatric Neurosurgery.

Dr. Elbabaa serves as a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando and the Florida State University College of Medicine’s Orlando campus.

Before moving to Orlando in 2017 to establish the Orlando Health fetal in-utero surgery program and the Leon Pediatric Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Dr. Elbabaa served as the Reinert Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery and associate professor of neurosurgery at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis. He received numerous honors from his patients and their families, including the 2013 St. Luke’s Faithful Healer Award and 2015 Ambassador Choice Award. He also received the 2013 Research Support Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons / Congress of Neurological Surgeons Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery.