Physician Publications
Dr. Aria Fallah is a pediatric neurosurgeon who practices at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, and sees patients at the UCLA Health pediatrics office in Manhattan Beach. He is board certified in neurosurgery by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and board certified by the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. He is also an assistant professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Dr. Fallah is a thoughtful and meticulous surgeon who specializes in the research and treatment of pediatric neurosurgical conditions, including medically intractable epilepsy, hydrocephalus and spasticity. He also has special expertise in brain tumors, arachnoid cysts, spinal dysraphism, craniofacial anomalies and other congenital malformations of the developing nervous system.
Dr. Fallah received his medical degree and his graduate degree in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics from McMaster University in Ontario. During his medical studies, he led an international multi-center study on epilepsy surgery for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. He then trained in the neurosurgical residency program of the University of Toronto, and completed his pediatric rotations at the prestigious Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, before rotating through the epilepsy surgery program at the Cleveland Clinic. He later completed his fellowship training in pediatric neurosurgery at Miami Children's Hospital.
During his tenure at UCLA, Dr. Fallah has worked in the world-class Pediatric Epilepsy Program, which has pioneered novel treatments, established protocols, developed diagnostic tools and created evidence-based guidelines that have revolutionized the care of children with medically intractable epilepsy. The pediatric epilepsy surgery team collaborates with UCLA Health experts in pediatric epileptology, pediatric neuroradiology, pediatric neuropathology, pediatric neuropsychology, child psychiatry and pediatric neuro-rehabilitation to achieve the best outcomes for patients.
The pediatric neurosurgery team offers diagnostic surgeries including stereotactic electroencephalography and subdural grid implantation; resective epilepsy surgeries, ranging from focused microsurgical resections to large hemispheric resections; as well as MRI-guided laser thermal therapy for minimally invasive treatments. Children who are not deemed eligible for resective surgery are often offered implantation of the latest generation of vagal nerve stimulators, responsive neurostimulation and deep brain stimulation.
In addition to his clinical work at UCLA, Dr. Fallah teaches and provides clinical care in developing nations. He has participated in volunteer trips to provide pediatric neurosurgical care for hydrocephalus in Haiti, and has helped start an epilepsy surgery program in India and China, and has performed complex surgical epilepsy procedures, such as a peri-insular hemispherotomy, in the youngest patient in Chile and one of the smallest infants in the United States.
Professional Memberships
Rhianna's Story with Chiari Malformation Gio's Journey My Son's Brain Tumor
Dr. Fallah's research interests are in Evidence-Based Surgery, Clinical Trials, Observational Studies, Meta-Analyses, and Umbrella Reviews, as it relates to Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery and Pediatric Neurosurgery. His current research projects include a multicenter, international study to generate and validate a prognostic tool in pediatric hemispherectomy (HOPS Study), comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness studies in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex in children with medically intractable epilepsy, as well as the development of advanced decision-making tools that evaluate individual values and preferences to be incorporated in the pre-operative discussion for children that are being considered for pediatric epilepsy surgery. Dr. Fallah has written extensively, having authored or coauthored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. He has written book chapters and has presented at many international and national conferences.
Link to Dr. Fallah's PubMed publications >
Recent Publications
Note: Website links may expire without notice.
Epilepsy Surgery and New Breakthroughs in Imaging Common Pitfalls in Chiari Operations CSF Presents "Surgical Management of Chiari Malformation in Children & Adolescents" Hydrocephalus After Hemispherectomy And Other Resective Procedures Surgical Treatment of Epilepsy in Children with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Hemispherectomy: When half the brain is better than the whole A Modern and Comprehensive Approach to Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Management of Pediatric Hydrocephalus">Management of Pediatric Hydrocephalus
UCLA surgeons use minimally invasive procedure to cure boy with rare form of seizuresBrock's Story - Brain SeizuresNathan's Story - Tuberous Sclerosis ComplexRhianna's Story with Chiari MalformationKobe's Story - Using Virtual Reality for Brain Surgery UCLA Health Laker For A Day - Gio Silveira - nba.com (Please note: Website links may expire without notice).
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