P. David Adelson, MD, FACS, FAAP
P. David Adelson, MD, FACS, FAAP, an internationally recognized neurosurgical and neuroscience expert in head injury and epilepsy in children, has joined Phoenix Children’s Hospital as the Director of the Children’s Neurosciences Institute (CNI) and as the Division Chief of Neurosurgery. Dr. Adelson, whose work has been published in numerous medical and scientific journals, is the principal investigator of a National Institute of Health (NIH) funded multicenter clinical trial to evaluate whether hypothermia can improve the outcome for children following severe traumatic brain injury. He has been funded through numerous extramural grants from the NIH and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as well as through foundation support for his basic science laboratory and clinical research. He has been recognized as one of the foremost experts on pediatric head injury clinical management. His other clinical and research interests include pediatric epilepsy, brachial plexus and peripheral nerve injury, and pediatric brain tumors. He has been the recipient of multiple awards, including The Best Doctors in America, Young Investigators Award of the Brain Injury Association, Congress of Neurological Surgeons Clinical Investigation Award and Outstanding Physician Award. He is an active participant in multiple scientific and professional societies. Dr. Adelson is presently the President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the Past Chair of the AANS/ CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care. He also sits on the Executive Committees of the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons, and previously on the Section of Neurological Surgery for the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Neurotrauma Society, to name a few. Dr. Adelson was recruited to Arizona from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh where he served most recently as the A. Leland Albright Professor of Neurosurgery/ Pediatric Neurosurgery and Vice Chairman, (Research) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He also served as the Director of Pediatric Neurotrauma, the Surgical Epilepsy Center, Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Center and Clinic, Center for Injury Research and Control, and Walter Copeland Neurosurgical Laboratory. Dr. Adelson received his medical degree from Columbia University, New York, NY, and completed the neurosurgical residency program at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif. He then obtained additional specialty training as a fellow in pediatric neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Boston and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., before moving on to Pittsburgh.. The Children’s Neuroscience Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital provides comprehensive care for children with neurological and behavioral disorders, often with complex and interrelated conditions. It is widely acknowledged among the medical community that collaborating to treat these special patients enhances their care and improves their outcomes. One of the Hospital’s six “Centers of Excellence,” the Children’s Neuroscience Institute is comprised of the divisions of neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurocritical care, neuroradiology, neuro-otology, and psychology. Specialized medical equipment, pediatric patient rooms, and pediatric specialists, in addition to the hospital's family-centered focus, make the institute uniquely qualified to treat pediatric patients with neurological diseases and disorders.
