Joshua J Chern, MD, PhD

Joshua Chern, MD, PhD, is a Pediatric Neurosurgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and an Adjunct Professor within the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Chern joined Children’s 2011 and now serves as Chief of Neurosurgery and Co-Chief of the Center for Neurosciences, where he is committed to building interdisciplinary programs that expand access to high-quality neurological care for children across Georgia and beyond.

Dr. Chern earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University in 1995. He then completed a joint MD/PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, receiving both his medical degree and a doctorate in molecular and cellular biology. He remained at Baylor for his neurosurgical residency, during which he received the Harris County serviceFIRST Award and the Kinjiro Iwata, MD Leadership Award. He went on to complete a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham.

Clinically, Dr. Chern cares for children with a wide range of neurosurgical conditions, including brain tumors, traumatic spinal cord injuries and hydrocephalus. He serves as Director of Epilepsy and is a leader in advanced techniques such as robotic-assisted stereotactic EEG and selective laser ablation. He research has been supported by NIH funding, and he and holds patents for surgical device innovations developed in collaboration with researchers at Georgia Tech.

In his academic role at Emory University, Dr. Chern is dedicated to educating the next generation of neurosurgeons and has inspired several trainees to pursue careers in pediatric neurosurgery. He was recently honored as the Texas Children's Hospital Thomas G. Luerssen Visiting Professor in Pediatric Neurosurgery.