Rob Lober, MD, PhD

view all

09/10/18 news article this will find a cure for cancer 09/28/18 patient story toddler gets new face, and new life 02/26/18 research article Grant funds brain tumor research 01/12/18 patient story specialists in dinosaur eggs 12/14/16 news article shaping cancer research 12/28/15 news article concussion: the must-see movie for moms 09/30/15 news article advanced imaging

neurosurgery

expertise

neuro-oncology

bio

Coming to Dayton Children’s from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in in Palo Alto, California, Dr. Lober completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery and pediatric neuro-oncology, a rare combination for a pediatric surgeon. He served his residency at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics in Stanford, California. He earned his medical degree and a PhD in Biomedical science at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, Georgia.

Dr. Lober is a member of the Scientific Committee for The Children’s Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium (CBTTC). The CBTTC is a collaborative, multi-institutional research program dedicated to the study and treatment of childhood brain tumors. The CBTTC provides free and open access data to find a cure for pediatric brain cancer. Dayton Children's is one of sixteen primary members, which includes some of the finest pediatric institutions in the world.

Through Dayton Children’s affiliation with the Wright State University & Premier Health Neuroscience Institute, Dr. Lober is researching brain tumors in children and using high-level imaging to find out what is going on inside them. This initiative is bridging the gap between pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric oncologists, physicists, mathematicians, radiologists, pathologists, biochemists and many others within Dayton Children’s and the Neuroscience Institute.

searching for a cure

Learn more about how Dr. Lober's research is helping to find treatment and cures for childhood brain tumors.

education and training

medical school: Medical College of Georgia
internship: Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, Stanford, California
residency: Neurosurgery - Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, Stanford, California
fellowship: Pediatric Neuro-Oncology and Pediatric Neurosurgery - Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, Stanford, California

publications and presentations

Hsu CH, Lober RM, Li MD, Partap S, Murphy PA, Barnes PD, Fisher PG, Yeom KW. Decreased tumor apparent diffusion coefficient correlates with objective response of pediatric low-grade glioma to bevacizumab. J Neurooncol. 2015 Mar 11. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25758812.
Yeom KW, Lober RM, Nelson MD Jr, Panigrahy A, Blüml S. Citrate concentrations increase with hypoperfusion in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. J Neurooncol. 2015 Apr;122(2):383-9. doi: 10.1007/s11060-015-1726-0. Epub 2015 Feb 11. PubMed PMID: 25670389.
Choudhri O, Lober RM, Camara-Quintana J, Yeom KW, Guzman R, Edwards MS. Carbon dioxide laser for corpus callosotomy in the pediatric population. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2015 Mar;15(3):321-7. doi: 10.3171/2014.10.PEDS13498. Epub 2014 Dec 19. PubMed PMID: 25525931.
Yeom KW, Lober RM, Alexander A, Cheshier SH, Edwards MS. Hydrocephalus decreases arterial spin-labeled cerebral perfusion. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2014 Jul;35(7):1433-9. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3891. Epub 2014 Mar 20. PubMed PMID: 24651817.
Lober RM, Cho YJ, Tang Y, Barnes PD, Edwards MS, Vogel H, Fisher PG, Monje M, Yeom KW. Diffusion-weighted MRI derived apparent diffusion coefficient identifies prognostically distinct subgroups of pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. J Neurooncol. 2014 Mar;117(1):175-82. doi: 10.1007/s11060-014-1375-8. Epub 2014 Feb 13. PubMed PMID: 24522717.
Singh H, Grobelny BT, Harrop J, Rosen M, Lober RM, Evans J. Endonasal access to the upper cervical spine, part one: radiographic morphometric analysis. J Neurol Surg B Skull Base. 2013 Jun;74(3):176-84. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1342923. Epub 2013 Apr 1. PubMed PMID: 24436909; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3709930.
Perreault S, Lober RM, Carret AS, Zhang G, Hershon L, Décarie JC, Vogel H, Yeom KW, Fisher PG, Partap S. Surveillance imaging in children with malignant CNS tumors: low yield of spine MRI. J Neurooncol. 2014 Feb;116(3):617-23. doi: 10.1007/s11060-013-1347-4. Epub 2014 Jan 9. PubMed PMID: 24401959.
Perreault S, Lober RM, Cheshier S, Partap S, Edwards MS, Yeom KW. Time-dependent structural changes of the dentatothalamic pathway in children treated for posterior fossa tumor. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2014 Apr;35(4):803-7. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3735. Epub 2013 Sep 19. PubMed PMID: 24052507.
Yeom KW, Lober RM, Partap S, Telischak N, Tsolinas R, Barnes PD, Edwards MS. Increased focal hemosiderin deposition in pediatric medulloblastoma patients receiving radiotherapy at a later age. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2013 Nov;12(5):444-51. doi: 10.3171/2013.7.PEDS1330. Epub 2013 Aug 30. PubMed PMID: 23992236.
Perreault S, Lober RM, Carret AS, Zhang G, Hershon L, Décarie JC, Yeom K, Vogel H, Fisher PG, Partap S. Relapse patterns in pediatric embryonal central nervous system tumors. J Neurooncol. 2013 Nov;115(2):209-15. doi: 10.1007/s11060-013-1213-4. Epub 2013 Aug 7. PubMed PMID: 23921420.
Yeom KW, Mitchell LA, Lober RM, Barnes PD, Vogel H, Fisher PG, Edwards MS. Arterial spin-labeled perfusion of pediatric brain tumors. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2014 Feb;35(2):395-401. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3670. Epub 2013 Aug 1. PubMed PMID: 23907239.
Yeom KW, Lober RM, Barnes PD, Campen CJ. Reduced cerebral arterial spin-labeled perfusion in children with neurofibromatosis type 1. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2013 Sep;34(9):1823-8. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3649. Epub 2013 Jun 13. PubMed PMID: 23764727.
Yeom KW, Lober RM, Andre JB, Fisher PG, Barnes PD, Edwards MS, Partap S. Prognostic role for diffusion-weighted imaging of pediatric optic pathway glioma. J Neurooncol. 2013 Jul;113(3):479-83. doi: 10.1007/s11060-013-1140-4. Epub 2013 May 15. PubMed PMID: 23673514.
Yeom KW, Holdsworth SJ, Van AT, Iv M, Skare S, Lober RM, Bammer R. Comparison of readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (EPI) and single-shot EPI in clinical application of diffusion-weighted imaging of the pediatric brain. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2013 May;200(5):W437-43. doi: 10.2214/AJR.12.9854. PubMed PMID: 23617511.
Lober RM. Low grade gliomas of childhood: the actual management. Minerva Pediatr. 2013 Apr;65(2):149-65. PubMed PMID: 23612260.
Yeom KW, Mobley BC, Lober RM, Andre JB, Partap S, Vogel H, Barnes PD. Distinctive MRI features of pediatric medulloblastoma subtypes. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2013 Apr;200(4):895-903. doi: 10.2214/AJR.12.9249. PubMed PMID: 23521467.
Yeom KW, Lober RM, Mobley BC, Harsh G, Vogel H, Allagio R, Pearson M, Edwards MS, Fischbein NJ. Diffusion-weighted MRI: distinction of skull base chordoma from chondrosarcoma. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2013 May;34(5):1056-61, S1. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3333. Epub 2012 Nov 1. PubMed PMID: 23124635.
Lober RM, Harsh GR 4th. A perspective on craniopharyngioma. World Neurosurg. 2013 May-Jun;79(5-6):645-6. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2012.10.064. Epub 2012 Oct 27. PubMed PMID: 23111221.
Hayden Gephart MG, Lober RM, Arrigo RT, Zygourakis CC, Guzman R, Boakye M, Edwards MS, Fisher PG. Trends in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric primary spinal cord tumors. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2012 Dec;10(6):555-9. doi: 10.3171/2012.9.PEDS1272. Epub 2012 Oct 12. PubMed PMID: 23061821.
Lober RM, Fisher PG. 50 years ago in The Journal of Pediatrics: the surgical management of meningoceles and meningomyeloceles. J Pediatr. 2012 Oct;161(4):734. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.05.019. PubMed PMID: 22999580.
Lober RM, Guzman R, Cheshier SH, Fredrick DR, Edwards MS, Yeom KW. Application of diffusion tensor tractography in pediatric optic pathway glioma. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2012 Oct;10(4):273-80. doi: 10.3171/2012.7.PEDS1270. Epub 2012 Aug 17. PubMed PMID: 22900485.

awards, honors and organizations

Joint Service Achievement Medals in the United States Army
Merck Manual Award for Perfect Grade Point Average in Medical School
Membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
Award for Compassionate Care from the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Oncology Palliative Care Committee
Research Awards from the American Society for Cell Biology, the Biophysical Society, and the San Francisco Neurological Society
Research Funding from the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health

get to know me

I chose my specialty because...

in neurosurgery, we have a unique opportunity to restore function when it is lost because of a brain or spinal cord problem. Nothing feels better to me than improving a child’s speech, strength or ability to walk after they have been affected by neurologic illness. In this field, we are on the verge of many exciting medical discoveries that promise to improve the lives of patients in ways that we could not have previously imagined.

I chose to work at Dayton Children's because...

at this hospital there is a unique opportunity to provide highly personalized care in a more efficient and cost-effective manner compared to large academic centers. Patients receive world-class care from experts recruited from top centers, who wished to have a smaller practice that allows a close relationship between doctors, patients and their families. We are pioneering the most advanced clinical neuroimaging technologies available in Ohio, including specialized vascular and spinal imaging techniques that are being developed through a joint collaboration with Stanford University.

Dayton Children's is special because...

the people that work here are a family. They are experts that could have chosen to work anywhere and they stayed at Dayton Children’s because they believe in what we can accomplish here.

ratings and reviews

Dayton Survey

11/26/18

Dr Lober is wonderful at explaining things and sharing how he weighs risks of if the procedure should be done and how. He spent a lot of time with us answering all of our questions.

Dayton Survey

10/11/18

Our visit was short, so I don't have a lot of feedback. But the doctor was confident in his diagnosis and made sure to provide enough time for any questions we may have had.

Dayton Survey

05/24/18

Best experience with a Doctor we have ever had would highly recommend him to anyone he went above and beyond

Dayton Survey

04/27/18

Dr. Lober is a fantastic neurosurgeon and is great with our son. He does everything he can to make our child feel comfortable and takes the time to explain everything to us and to listen to any of our concerns. Thanks for everything you do!

additional providers in neurosurgery

view all doctors

Kambiz Kamian, MD, FRCSC, FAANS, Division Chief

neurosurgery

Shobhan Vachhrajani, MD, PhD, FRCSC

neurosurgery

Stephanie Smith, MS, RN, CPNP-AC/PC

neurosurgery

Angela Hoersting, MS, RN, CPNP-AC/PC

neurosurgery