Benjamin Warf, MD

Dr. Benjamin Warf is a pediatric neurosurgeon whose work has transformed the treatment of infant hydrocephalus around the world. 

As the founding Medical Director of a pediatric neurosurgery hospital in rural Uganda from 2000 to 2006, he pioneered a new procedure that successfully avoided the need for life-long shunt dependence in 2 out of 3 infants. This minimally invasive surgical approach, sometimes referred to as The Warf Method, has been proven safe and effective by numerous studies published over the past two decades. Since 2005, he has trained dozens of neurosurgeons in the technique, and many of these have gone on to train others. In 2020 he founded NeuroKids to provide better access to this life-saving operation for infants around the globe, restoring hope to their families. 

Dr. Warf is a Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and currently serves as Director of Neonatal and Congenital Anomalies Neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he holds the Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida Chair. Dr. Warf is a recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and in 2012, he was named a MacArthur Fellow, receiving the prestigious  “Genius” Award” for “improving access to care and standards of that care” (watch a video about his accomplishment). His research, teaching, and leadership over the past quarter of a century in both Africa and North America inform his work with NeuroKids, whose ultimate goal is improving access to optimal, evidence-based, and sustainable treatment of hydrocephalus for all the children of the world.

Dr. Warf received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and was the first Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. Learn more about Dr. Warf’s work in this video developed by Boston Children’s Hospital.

Read the Story of how Dr. Warf and colleagues founded NeuroKids: