Dr. Timothy Vogel is a board-certified pediatric neurosurgeon who serves as the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital and is the founder of Pediatric Neurosurgeons of New Jersey. His work includes treating pediatric craniofacial surgery conditions, minimally invasive craniosynostosis surgery, brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, and congenital malformations. He is known for leading the first successful surgery in the world for a baby born with exencephaly, a case that required careful planning and teamwork.
Advancing Craniofacial Surgery in New Jersey
As one of the leading craniofacial surgeons in the Northeast, Dr. Vogel directs his clinical practice toward improving craniofacial surgery in Northern New Jersey. He founded the comprehensive craniofacial center at Hackensack University Medical Center, which received national accreditation from the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. His team evaluates and treats complex craniofacial cases through a multidisciplinary model that brings several specialties together to support patients and families.
Commitment to Pediatric Brain Tumor Care
Dr. Timothy Vogel served as co-chair of the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation Gala and is recognized in New Jersey as a leading expert in pediatric brain tumors. He applies minimally invasive approaches to care for children with rare and life-threatening brain and spine tumors. Referrals come from across the Northeast, and many families participate in clinical trials he helped support. He also played a significant role in founding New Jersey’s first pediatric neuro-oncology laboratory dedicated to the study of rare brain tumors.
Contributions in Research and Innovation
His academic background includes authoring multiple publications and holding several patents. Timothy also has experience as a developmental neuroscientist, working in areas involving CNS genetics and forebrain development. His peers throughout the New York and New Jersey region consistently acknowledge him as one of the top pediatric neurosurgeons.
Academic Foundation and Early Career
Throughout his professional and academic career, Timothy Vogel, MD, has held key roles in pediatric neurosurgery. He began his academic career at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the #1 pediatric hospital in the United States. There, he served as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, and the Division of Developmental Biology. He mentored students and residents through the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute and the Graduate Program in Molecular and Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. His work during this time included research on craniosynostosis, and patients from over 15 states continue to travel to him for expertise in minimally invasive endoscopic surgery.
Research Expansion and Clinical Leadership
During his years in Cincinnati, he joined the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School as a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Dermatology, contributing to research linked to photomedicine and neuroscience. He later served as Director of Pediatric and Craniofacial Neurosurgery at the New Jersey Brain and Spine Center in Hackensack, where he strengthened multidisciplinary pediatric neurosurgical care.
He went on to serve as the Scientific Director and Principal Investigator of the Pediatric Neuro-oncology Lab at the Center for Discovery and Innovation CDI at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University. He had previously been an Associate Member and Faculty at the CDI. He then became Director of the Comprehensive Craniofacial Clinic at Hackensack, in collaboration with Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Education, Training, and Certification
Dr. Timothy Vogel attended Princeton University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Chemistry. He completed medical school at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. His residency took place at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he served as Chief Resident. He completed an advanced fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital at Harvard University and a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis. He is double board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons ABNS and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgeons ABPNS and holds fellowships, including FACS and FAAP.
