Our Pediatric Neurosurgery Team

Contact Us
Department Office:
(650) 497-8775

New Patient Coordinator:
(650) 724-5326
The entire Pediatric Neurosurgery team is focused on treating children that require surgery to treat problems with the brain, spinal cord and surrounding nerves.
 

Doctors

Our doctors have completed specialized medical (fellowship) training for operating on a child’s brain, spinal cord or nervous system. They are also board-certified as pediatric neurosurgeons. 

Michael S. B. Edwards, MD Dr. Edwards is the Chief, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Professor in Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Co-Director of the Center for Children's Brain Tumors. He is also a professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is a board-certified neurosurgeon and holds a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery and neuro-oncology from the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Neurosurgery. His practice includes a wide range of neurosurgical procedures and treatments, including radiosurgery. Dr. Edwards presently sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Radiosurgery and Surgical Neurology.

Samuel Cheshier, MD Dr. Cheshier is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatric neurosurgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Cheshier is a former recipient of the Van Wagenen fellowship – the most prestigious research award offered to a new neurosurgeon in North America. He was also a Robin and Judith Humphreys Fellow of Paediatric Neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. His main clinical interests are neuro-oncology and epilepsy surgery. His research lab focuses on determining the lineage relationships of brain tumor stem cells and progenitors as well normal central nervous system (CNS) stem cells.

 

Nurse Practitioners

	Melissa Ballard RN, MS, CPNP-AC, is a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) specializing in the care of hospitalized children, with an emphasis in the acute care setting. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from San Francisco State University in 1985, and a Master of Science in Nursing from U.C. San Francisco in 2007.  She is also a member of NAPNAP.
	Camly Slawson, RN, MS, CNS, PNP, is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner with a background in the pediatric specialty and acute care settings both as a pediatric nurse practitioner and registered nurse.  Camly completed her undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University and attained her Master of Science degree at the University of California, San Francisco. Camly is a board member of NAPNAP and a member of Sigma Theta Tau International.
	Bonnie Taft, RN, MSN, CPNP, is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) with a rich background in the pediatric primary care setting. Bonnie is also an experienced educator and served as a member of the pediatric clinical faculty at the University of California at San Francisco for several years. Bonnie completed her undergraduate degree at State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1994 and she later went on to attain her Masters in Science degree at Boston College in 2003.