David I. Sandberg, MD

Biography

Dr. David I. Sandberg is Professor and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. He is the Dr. Marnie Rose Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and he additionally holds the THINK Neurology Chair in Pediatric Tumor Research and Innovation.  He holds joint appointments in the Departments of Pediatric Surgery and Neurosurgery at UTHealth, as well as, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he is Co-Director of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program. His major clinical interests include pediatric brain tumors, minimally invasive endoscopic approaches to brain tumors and hydrocephalus, congenital spinal anomalies, vascular malformations, spasticity, and craniofacial disorders in children.

Dr. Sandberg has pioneered novel treatment approaches for pediatric brain tumors, and he is Principal Investigator of several clinical trials currently being conducted at UTHealth studying novel ways to deliver chemotherapy into the brain. Dr. Sandberg is on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery, and he has traveled broadly internationally on volunteer neurosurgery trips. In 2019, he received the Humanitarian Award from the AANS.  Dr. Sandberg is fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the American Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery.

He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed neurosurgery residency training at Weill Medical College of Cornell University/New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Sandberg was awarded the Resident Traveling Fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), and he completed this fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. After residency, he completed fellowship training in pediatric neurosurgery at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which is affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Dr. Sandberg is an ad hoc reviewer for a number of neurosurgery and neuroscience journals. His major clinical interests include pediatric brain tumors, minimally invasive endoscopic approaches to brain tumors and hydrocephalus, congenital spinal anomalies, vascular malformations, spasticity, craniofacial disorders, Chairi Malformations, and arachnoid cysts in children.