Effective October 1, 2019, the Section of Pediatric Neurosurgery within the UAB Department of Neurosurgery was elevated to the status of a division. This development marked the establishment of the inaugural Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery within the department.  

Jeffrey Blount, M.D, MPH., professor and division director considers the division’s elevation as clear evidence of a thriving program. 
 
Blount credits much of the success of the division to the transformative contributions of Department of Neurosurgery Professor Jerry Oakes, M.D. In Blount's perspective, Oakes played a pivotal role in positioning UAB's pediatric surgery section as a nationally recognized program. 

According to Blount, an advancing era of pediatric neurosurgery commenced at UAB with the arrival of Oakes, attracting talented faculty members and fellow candidates who have since advanced to prominent leadership positions within esteemed pediatric neurosurgery programs across the nation.

“We continue to attract the brightest and best fellow applicants, to vigorously pursue important research projects and to robustly engage in global neurosurgery programs,” said Blount. “The current faculty has followed this lead and continues to be clinically robust and academically accomplished. Becoming a division attests to the recognition provided by UAB to those efforts and accomplishments and helps position us to optimize further academic opportunities in the future.”