Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s Brain Institute celebrated the 40
th anniversary of its Epilepsy Surgery Program in March with a patient reunion at Zoo Miami. The fun-filled event was attended by nearly 200 former patients and their family members as well as clinical and support staff.
“As a clinician, there is nothing more rewarding than gathering with former patients and their families to celebrate lives made better through the work that we do,” said Dr. Trevor Resnick, Director of the Brain Institute’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. “For patients who have struggled with medically resistant seizures, surgical intervention is often the key to a more normal life and a brighter future. It is an honor to have served these families and help them find a path forward. Our leadership in care of patients with epilepsy is one more reason why Nicklaus Children’s is the hospital where children matter most,” he said.
Nicklaus Children's Brain Institute is an internationally recognized leader in caring for children and infants with epilepsy. The South Florida-based program offers the latest medical and surgical interventions to help children with epileptic seizures.
After its founding in 1984, the program fast became a pioneer in the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of children with seizure disorders, and advancing global acceptance of surgical interventions in children with epileptic regions.
Since its inception, the program has performed over 1,600 surgeries for children with epilepsy. Two years post-surgery, 84.5 percent of patients who underwent surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy remain seizure free while 71.6 percent of patients who received surgery for extra-temporal lobe epilepsy remain seizure free. These outcomes have remained stable for the past 10 years.
Today, the program continues its commitment to providing the latest and most comprehensive care options with the goal of offering patients and families the best chance of achieving seizure freedom. Current techniques include laser and focused beam ultrasound to ablate epileptic areas of the brain that are difficult to reach. Neuromodulation, including Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), and Responsive Neuro Stimulator (RNS) implants are also utilized to detect and stop seizures.
During the reunion, children and their families, as well as adult patients who underwent care as children, celebrated with food, fun and games as well as shared time to explore the zoo.
About Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Where Your Child Matters Most ™ (2025)
Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children. With more than 850 physicians, including over 500 pediatric subspecialists, the hospital and its network of outpatient centers and offices serve close to 70 percent of children in the Miami market. The only "where your child matters most™,” Nicklaus Children's is home to the region's most advanced Kenneth C. Griffin Surgical Tower, and its centers of excellence Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children’s Orthopedics, Sports Health and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children’s Brain Institute and Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute. The Nicklaus Children's Hospital's Transfer Center, Nick4Kids, and LifeFlight are responsible for transporting and saving close to 5,000 lives a year. Our 325-bed hospital, which is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, has many specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org.