John Ragheb, MD

A clinician identified with a Nicklaus Children’s Pediatric Specialists logo is an affiliate of Nicklaus Children's Health System. All other clinicians listed on the website are in independent medical practices.

 

Video Profile

Chief, Department of Surgery
Director, Division of Neurosurgery
 

Dr. John Ragheb is chief of the Department of Surgery and director of the Division of Neurosurgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. He was promoted to Professor of Clinical Neurosurgery and Pediatrics in June of 2008. He has served as the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital from July 1996 to the present, and the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Nicklaus Children's Hospital from November 2003 to the present. Dr. Ragheb is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan School of Medicine. He was trained in neurosurgery at the University of Maryland and completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the New York University Medical Center.

Dr. Ragheb is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. He is a member of the following local, national, and international organizations: The Global Health Council, The American Academy of Pediatrics Medical Device Committee, The Children’s Brain Trust Steering Committee, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The Congress of Neurological Surgeons, The American College of Surgeons, The American Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons, The Florida Neurosurgical Society, The Medical Executive Committee for the AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery, and The Greater Miami Pediatric Society. In addition, he is a founding member on the Board of Directors for The Child Foundation, Inc. and has recently been appointed Chairman of the Membership and Credentials Committee for the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and serves as a director on the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery.

A well-published author, Dr. Ragheb has written extensively on the subjects of intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord, pediatric traumatic brain injury, and pediatric epilepsy surgery. His areas of clinical interest in addition to the above listed topics include hydrocephalus, spina bifida, tethered spinal cord, congenital anomalies of the central nervous system, neuroendoscopy, pediatric neuro-oncology, arteriovenous malformations, Chiari malformations, brain tumors, craniofacial anomalies, and spasticity.

An extraordinary humanitarian, in 2003, Dr. Ragheb created a program to treat hydrocephalus in children in Haiti under the sponsorship of Project Medishare. An all-volunteer surgical team travels to Haiti twice per year to perform surgeries on children with hydrocephalus, approximately twenty surgeries being performed during each trip. The program's goal has evolved to develop a neurosurgery training program with Haiti's Minister of Health and the Dean of the National School of Medicine in Port-Au-Prince. The efforts have recruited pediatric neurosurgeons, as well as other specialists from several U.S. programs.

Since the January 2010 earthquake, Dr. Ragheb has returned several times to provide urgent medical care to the injured at Project Medishare’s field hospital. He leads a team of specialists and organizations in the United States and Haiti who are working to establish training and educational programs, offering to coordinate the continuous presence of North American trained neurosurgeons as teachers and surgical mentors. The goal is to have a self sustaining program that could extend to funding and supporting a specialty hospital for children and provide training for pediatricians and pediatric specialists.


Tierney, T.S., Alavian, K.N., ..., Ragheb, J. (2022). Initial experience with magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound stereotactic surgery for central brain lesions in young adults. Journal of neurosurgery, Ahead of print(), 1-8. View in Pubmed

Janwadkar, R., Leblang, S., ..., Raghbe, J., et al (2022). Focused Ultrasound for Pediatric Diseases. Pediatrics , 149(3), e2021052714. View in Pubmed

Silva, M.A., Chang., H., ..., Ragheb, J. (2022). Surgical management of quadrigeminal cistern arachnoid cysts: case series and literature review. Journal of neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 29(4), 427-434. View in Pubmed

Lu, V.M., Wang, S., Toba N Niazi, T.N., Ragheb, J. (2022). Impact of intraventricular hemorrhage symmetry on endoscopic third ventriculostomy with choroid plexus cauterization for posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus: an institutional experience of 50 cases. Journal of neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 30(), 1-7. View in Pubmed

Gaztanaga, W., Luther, E., ..., Ragheb, J. (2022). Giant, symptomatic mixed vascular malformation containing a cavernoma, developmental venous anomaly, and capillary telangiectasia in a 19-month-old infant. Child's nervous system, 38(5), 1005-1009. View in Pubmed

Fallah, A., Lewis, E., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2021). Comparison of the real-world effectiveness of vertical versus lateral functional hemispherotomy techniques for pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy: A post hoc analysis of the HOPS study. Epilepsia, 62(11), 2707-2718. View in Pubmed

Nagahama, Y., Zervos, T.M., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2021). Real-World Preliminary Experience With Responsive Neurostimulation in Pediatric Epilepsy: A Multicenter Retrospective Observational Study. Neurosurgery, 89(6), 997-1004. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Lewis, E.C., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2021). Hemispherectomy Outcome Prediction Scale: Development and validation of a seizure freedom prediction tool. Epilepsia, 62(5), 1064-1073. View in Pubmed

Hyslop, A., Wang, S., ..., Ragheb, J. (2021). Stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) in pediatric epilepsy: Utility in children with and without prior epilepsy surgery failure. Epilepsy research, 177(), 106765. View in Pubmed

Jain, S., Shelly Wang, S., ..., Ragheb, J. (2021). Autologous Calvarial Bone Remodeling Technique for Small to Medium-Sized Cranial Defects in Young Children: The "Switch-Cranioplasty" Technique. Pediatric Neurosurgery, 56(3), 248-253. View in Pubmed

Oppenhuizen, B., Ragheb, J., Leuchter, J.D., et al (2021). Pediatric intracranial neurenteric cyst of the oculomotor nerve: a case-based review. Child's nervous system, 37(12), 3681-3693. View in Pubmed

Akbari, S.H.A., Rizvi, A.A., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2021). Socioeconomic and demographic factors in the diagnosis and treatment of Chiari malformation type I and syringomyelia. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, View in Pubmed

Russo, A., Hyslop, A., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2021). Early Implantation as a Main Predictor of Response to Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Childhood-Onset Refractory Epilepsy. Journal of Child Neurology, 36(5), 365-370. View in Pubmed

Russo, A., Hyslop, A., ..., Raghbe, J., et al (2021). Early vagus nerve stimulator implantation as a main predictor of positive outcome in pediatric patients with epileptic encephalopathy. Epileptic disorders, 23(4), 563-571. View in Pubmed

Wang, S., Weil, A.G., Ibrahim, G.M., ..., Ragheb, J., et al. (2020). Surgical management of pediatric patients with encephalopathy due to electrical status epilepticus during sleep (ESES) . Epileptic disorders, 22(1), 39-54. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Fallah, A, ..., Ragheb, J. (2020). Functional hemispherectomy: can preoperative imaging predict outcome?. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 25(6), 567-573. View in Pubmed

Bernal, B., Guillen, M., Ragheb, J., ..., Duchowny, M. (2019). Functional imaging localization of complex organic hallucinations. Neurocase, 25(3-4), 91-97. View in Pubmed

Shah, A.H., Ibrahim, G.M., Sasaki, J., Ragheb, J., Bhatia, S., Niazi, T.N. (2018). Multiple echocardiography abnormalities associated with endoscopic third ventriculostomy failure. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 21(1), 25-30. View in Pubmed

Gupta, N., Goumnerova, L.C., Manley, P., Chi, S.N., Neuberg, D., Puligandla, M., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2018). Prospective Feasibility and Safety Assessment of Surgical Biopsy for Patients with Newly Diagnosed Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Neuro-oncology, [E-Publication, ahead of print](), . View in Pubmed

Goyal, A., Cajigas, I., Ibrahim, G.M., Brathwaite, C.D., ..., Ragheb, J. (2018). Surgical Treatment of Intramedullary Spinal Metastasis in Medulloblastoma: Case Report and Review of the Literature. World neurosurgery, 118(), 42-46. View in Pubmed

Wang, S., Stone, S., Weil, A.G., Fallah, A., Warf, B.C., Ragheb, J., Bhatia, S., et al (2017). Comparative effectiveness of flexible versus rigid neuroendoscopy for endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization: a propensity score-matched cohort and survival analysis. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 19(5), 585-591. View in Pubmed

Fallah, A., Weil, A.G., Juraschka, K., Ibrahim, G.M., Wang, A.C., Crevier L., ..., Ragheb, J., et al. (2017). The importance of extent of choroid plexus cauterization in addition to endoscopic third ventriculostomy for infantile hydrocephalus: a retrospective North American observational study using propensity score-adjusted analysis. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 20(6), 503-510. View in Pubmed

Ibrahim, G.M., Sharma, P., Hyslop, A., Guillen, M.R., Morgan, B.R., Wong, S., Abel, T.J., ..., Ragheb, J., et al. (2017). Presurgical thalamocortical connectivity is associated with response to vagus nerve stimulation in children with intractable epilepsy. Neuroimage. Clinical, 16(), 634-642. View in Pubmed

Song, Y., Riera, J.J., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J., Garcia, C., Weil, A.G., et al (2016). Intraoperative optical mapping of epileptogenic cortices during non-ictal periods in pediatric patients. NeuroImage. Clinical, 11(), 423-434. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Fallah, A., Chamiraju, P., Ragheb, J., Bhatia, S. (2016). Endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization with a rigid neuroendoscope in infants with hydrocephalus. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 17(2), 163-173. View in Pubmed

Fallah, A., Weil, A.G., Sur, S., Miller, I., Jayakar, P., Morrison, G., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J. (2015). Epilepsy surgery related to pediatric brain tumors: Miami Children's Hospital experience. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 16(6), 675-680. View in Pubmed

Lewis, E.C., Weil, A.G., Duchowny, M., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J., Miller, I. (2015). MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy for pediatric drug-resistant lesional epilepsy. Epilepsia, 56(10), 1590-1598. View in Pubmed

Fallah, A., Rodgers, S.D., Weil, A.G., Vadera, S., Mansouri, A., Connolly, M.B., Major, P., ..., Ragheb, J., et al (2015). Resective Epilepsy Surgery for Tuberous Sclerosis in Children: Determining Predictors of Seizure Outcomes in a Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study. Neurosurgery, 77(4), 517-524. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Fallah, A., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J. (2015). Pediatric Neurosurgery in the Developing World: The Haiti Experience. Journal og Craniofacial Surgery, 26(4), 1061-1065. View in Pubmed

Satterwhite, T.S., Morrison, G., Ragheb, J., Bhatia, S., Perlyn, C., Wolfe, S.A. (2015). Fibrous dysplasia: management of the optic canal. Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 135(6), 1016e-1024e. View in Pubmed

Lo Presti, A., Weil, A.G., Ragheb, J. (2015). Flying with a shunt. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 15(2), 223-224. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Middleton, A.L., Niazi, T.N., Ragheb, J., Bhatia, S. (2015). The supracerebellar-transtentorial approach to posteromedial temporal lesions in children with refractory epilepsy. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 15(1), 45-54. View in Pubmed

Luna, B., Bhatia, S., Yoo, C., Felty, Q., Sandberg, D.I., Duchowny, M., Khatib, Z., Miller, I., Ragheb, J., Prasanna, J., Roy, D. (2015). Proteomic and Mitochondrial Genomic Analyses of Pediatric Brain Tumors. Molecular neurobiology, 52(3), 1341-1363. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Middleton, A.L., Niazi, T.N., Ragheb, J., Bhatia, S. (2015). The supracerebellar-transtentorial approach to posteromedial temporal lesions in children with refractory epilepsy. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 15(1), 45-54. View in Pubmed

Luna, B., Bhatia, S., Yoo, C., Felty, Q., Sandberg, D.I., Duchowny, M., Khatib, Z., Miller, I., Ragheb, J., Prasanna, J., Roy, D. (2015). Proteomic and Mitochondrial Genomic Analyses of Pediatric Brain Tumors. Molecular Neurobiology, 52(3), 1341-1363. View in Pubmed

Weil, A.G., Ragheb, J., Niazi, T.N., Bhatia, S. (2014). Avoiding routine postoperative head CT in children. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 13(5), 585-587. View in Pubmed

Chamiraju, P., Bhatia, S., Sandberg, D.I., Ragheb, J. (2014). Endoscopic third ventriculostomy and choroid plexus cauterization in posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus of prematurity. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 13(4), 433-439. View in Pubmed

Luna, B., Bhatia, S., Yoo, C., Felty, Q., Sandberg, D.I., Duchowny, M., Khatib, Z., Miller, I., Ragheb, J., Prasanna, J., Roy, D. (2014). Bayesian Network and Mechanistic Hierarchical Structure Modeling of Increased likelihood of Developing Intractable Childhood Epilepsy from the Combined Effect of mtDNA Variants, Oxidative Damage, and Copy Number. Journal of molecular neuroscience, 54(4), 752-766. View in Pubmed

Yadav, N., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J., Song, Y., Romero, A., Oh, S., Lin, W.C. (2013). Evaluating and improving the quality of time-dependent, diffuse reflectance spectroscopic signals measured from in vivo brain during craniotomy. Medical Engineering & Physics, 35(11), 1551-1557. View in Pubmed

Bhatia, S., Ahmad, F., Miller, I., Ragheb, J., Morrison, G., Jayakar, P., Duchowny, M. (2013). Surgical treatment of refractory status epilepticus in children. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 12(4), 360-366. View in Pubmed

De Angulo, G., Nair, S., Lee, V., Khatib, Z., Ragheb J, Sandberg, D.I. (2013). Nonoperative management of solitary eosinophilic granulomas of the calvaria. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 12(1), 1-5. View in Pubmed

Shriver, E.M., Ragheb, J., Tse, D.T. (2012). Combined transcranial-orbital approach for resection of optic nerve gliomas: a clinical and anatomical study. Ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery, 28(3), 184-191. View in Pubmed

Sandberg, D.I., Charmiraju, P., Zoeller, G., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J. (2012). Endoscopic choroid plexus coagulation in infants with hydranencephaly or hydrocephalus with a minimal cortical mantle. Pediatric Neurosurgery, 48(1), 6-12. View in Pubmed

Luna, B., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J., Miller, I., Jayakar, P., Felty, Q., Roy, D. (2012). "Malformations of cortical development and epilepsy in children” . Elsevier. Encyclopedia of Environmental Health.

Ragheb, J. (2011). “Base of skull fracture and growing skull fracture in children” . The ISPN Guide to Pediatric Neurosurgery. http://guide.ispneurosurgery.org

Benglis, D. Jr., Covington, D., Bhatia, R., Bhatia, S., Elhammady, M.S., Ragheb J., Morrison, G., Sandberg, D.I. (2011). Outcomes in pediatric patients with Chiari malformation Type I followed up without surgery. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 7(4), 375-379. View in Pubmed

Laughlin, J., Luerssen, T.G., Dias, SONS Exec. Committee [Ragheb, J.]. (2011). Prevention and management of positional skull deformities in infants. Pediatrics, 128(6), 1236-1241. View in Pubmed

Meyer, J.S., Gunderman, R., Coley, B.D., Bulas, D., Garber, M., Karmazyn, B., Keller, M.S., Kulkarni, A.V., Milla, S.S., Myseros, J.S., Paidas, C., Pizzutillo, P.D., Podberesky, D.J., Prince, J.S., Ragheb, J., American College of Radioloy (2011). ACR Appropriateness Criteria(®) on suspected physical abuse-child. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 8(2), 87-94. View in Pubmed

Oh, S., Stewart, T., Miller, I., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J., Duchowny, M., Jayakar, P., Lin, W.C. (2011). Optical properties of cortical tubers in children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC): a preliminary investigation. Epilepsia, 52(9), 1699-1704. View in Pubmed

Ragheb, J., Farhat, H. (2010). “Pediatric head injury”. Electronic reference. Pediatric Neurosurgery On Call.

Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J. (2010). Pediatric epilepsy surgery: Part I. Contemporary Neurosurgery, 32(25), 1-8.

Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J. (2010). Pediatric epilepsy surgery: Part II . Contemporary Neurosurgery, 32(26), 1-5.

Johnson, J., Ragheb, J., Garg, R., Patten, W., Sandberg, D.I., Bhatia, S. (2010). Neurogenic stunned myocardium after acute hydrocephalus. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 5(5), 428-433. View in Pubmed

Lin, W.C., Sandberg, D.I., Bhatia, S., Johnson, M., Oh, S., and Ragheb, J. (2010). Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for in vivo pediatric brain tumor detection. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 15(6), 061709. View in Pubmed

Maton, B., Krsek, P., Jayakar, P., Resnick, T., Koehn, M., Morrison, G., Ragheb, J., Castellano Sanchez, A, Duchowny, M. (2010). Medically intractable epilepsy in Sturge-Weber syndrome is associated with cortical malformation: implications for surgical therapy. Epilepsia, 51(2), 257-267. View in Pubmed

Perry, S., Dunoyer, C., Dean, P., Bhatia, S., Bavariya, A., Ragheb, J., Miller, I., Resnick, T., Jayakar, P., Duchowny, M. (2010). Predictors of seizure-freedom after incomplete resection in children. Neurology, 75(), 1448-1453. View in Pubmed

Krsek, P., Maton, B., Jayakar, P., Dean, P., Korman, B., Rey, G., Dunoyer, C., Pacheco-Jacome E., Morrison, G., Ragheb, J., Vinters, H.V., Resnick, T., Duchowny, M. (2009). Incomplete resection of focal cortical dysplasia is the main predictor of poor postsurgical outcome. Neurology, 72(3), 217-223. View in Pubmed

Lin, W.C., Sandberg, D., Bhatia, S., Johnson, M., Morrison, G., Ragheb, J. (2009). Optical spectroscopy for in-vitro differentiation of pediatric neoplastic and epileptogenic brain lesions. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 14(1), 014028. View in Pubmed

Bhatia, S., Trombly, R., Ragheb, J. (2008). “Pediatric head injury” . New York, NY. Thieme. Brain Trauma and Critical Care.

Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J.R., Johnson, M., Oh, S., Sandberg, D.I., Lin, W.C. (2008). The role of optical spectroscopy in epilepsy surgery in children. Neurosurgical Focus, 25(3), E24. View in Pubmed

Bhatia, S., Lin, W.C., Oh, S., Sandberg, D., Ragheb, J., Morrison, G. (2008). Fluorescence and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for intraoperative guidance in pediatric epilepsy surgery. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 1(4), A351.

Elhammady, M.S., Benglis, D.M., Bhatia, S., Sandberg, D.I., Ragheb, J. (2008). Ventriculoatrial shunt catheter displacement in a child with partial anomalous pulmonary venous return: case report. Journal of Neurosurgery. Pediatrics, 2(1), 68-70. View in Pubmed

Jayakar, P., Dunoyer, C., Dean, P., Ragheb, J., Resnick, T. Morrison, G., Bhatia, S., Duchowny, M. (2008). Epilepsy surgery in patients with normal or nonfocal MRI scans: integrative strategies offer long-term seizure relief. Epilepsia, 49(5), 758-764. View in Pubmed

Jea, A., Bhatia, S., Ragheb, J. (2008). “Intramedullary spinal cord tumors” . New York, NY. Thieme. Surgery of the Pediatric Spine.

Krsek, P., Maron, B., Korman, B., Pacheco-Jacome, E., Jayakar, P., Dunoyer, C., Rey, G., Morrison, G., Ragheb, J., Vinters, H., Resnick, T., Duchowny, M. (2008). Different features of histopathological subtypes of pediatric focal cortical dysplasia. Annals of Neurology, 63(6), 758-769. View in Pubmed

Maton, B., Jayakar, P., Resnick, T., Morrison, G., Ragheb, J., Duchowny, M. (2008). Surgery for medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy during early life. Epilepsia, 49(1), 80-87. View in Pubmed

Primary Office

Address:
Nicklaus Children's Neurosurgery
3100 SW 62 Avenue, ACB #3109
Miami, FL 33155
Phone Number:
305-662-8386

Additional Office

Address:
Nicklaus Children's Aventura Care Ctr- Neurosurgery
20295 NE 29 Place #300
Aventura, FL 33180
Phone Number:
786-624-2800

Additional Office

Address:
3361 Pine Ridge Road Ste. 201
Naples, FL 34108
Phone Number:
305-662-8386

Education

Fellowship - New York University Medical Center
Internship - Univ. of Maryland Medical System
Residency - Univ. of Maryland Medical System
Medical School - University of Michigan

Board Certifications

American Board of Neurological Surgery - Certified
American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery - Certified