Pediatric Neurosurgery Team

Cormac Maher, MD
Professor, Neurosurgery
Division Chief, Pediatric Neurosurgery

Dr. Maher is a Pediatric Neurosurgeon with clinical interest in surgical treatment of Chiari Malformation, arteriovenous malformations, Moyamoya disease, cavernous malformations, pediatric brain tumors, spinal dysraphism, tethered spinal cord, and hydrocephalus. Dr. Maher attended medical school at Georgetown University. He completed a surgical internship and neurosurgical residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. After residency, he completed a in pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital under the direction of R. Michael Scott, M.D. Afterward, he completed a fellowship in cerebrovascular neurosurgery at the Brigham & Women's Hospital. 

Kelly Mahaney, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery

Dr. Mahaney is a Pediatric Neurosurgeon with clinical interest in Hydrocephalus, Craniovertebral Junction abnormalities, Spasticity, Spinal dysraphism and Myelomeningocele, Central Nervous System tumors, and Pediatric Epilepsy surgery. She completed residency training at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and subspecialty Pediatric Neurosurgery training at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and the Barrow Neurologic Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital. She is interested in advancing Neuro-endoscopic techniques in Pediatric Neurosurgical practice. Dr. Mahaney's research focuses on delineating the role of iron in the development of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus.

H. Westley Phillips, MD
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery

Dr. Phillips holds a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and he completed his neurosurgical residency at UCLA. Subsequently, he obtained fellowship training in pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His research interests are predicated on understanding the underlying mechanisms of pediatric drug resistant epilepsy (DRE) in hopes of discovering novel treatments to improve outcomes. He was awarded two years of funding via the NIH/NINDS R25 grant to investigate the genetic underpinnings of DRE in children at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he studied the feasibility of utilizing trace amounts of brain-tissue adhered to removed depth electrodes to detect brain specific somatic variants from otherwise discarded sources of DNA. As a neurosurgeon-scientist, he is committed to advancing the field of pediatric epilepsy by using his unique access to both patients and their pathologic tissue to determine the genetic underpinnings of DRE in children. 

Laura Prolo, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery

Dr. Prolo received her MD/PhD in Neuroscience at Stanford University and trained as a Neurosurgery resident at Stanford University Medical Center. She completed her fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery at University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her clinical focus is on brain and spinal cord tumors, craniosynostosis, Chiari malformation, Moyamoya Disease, spinal dysraphism and genetically targeted therapies for inherited disorders of the nervous system. Dr. Prolo’s research program is focused on advancing and applying evolving molecular technologies for the diagnosis, characterization and treatment of children with brain tumors and congenital disorders.