Meet Our Team
UF Pediatric Neurosurgery

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Lance S. Governale, MD

Lance S. Governale, MD, FAANS, FAAP, is the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital and the L.D. Hupp Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine.  He joined the University of Florida in 2017 after serving as a Pediatric Neurosurgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Governale obtained a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Maryland, research training from the National Institutes of Health, and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School.  He then stayed at Harvard to complete neurosurgical residency training at Brigham and  Women’s Hospital and pediatric neurosurgical fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital.

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Jason E. Blatt, MD

Jason E. Blatt, MD, FAANS, FAAP is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he was a National Merit Scholar and graduated magna cum laude. While in Nashville his honors included election to Alpha Epsilon Delta, Mortar Board, Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Delta Pi, and an Alpha Phi Omega Distinguished Service Key. He then completed his medical degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and received the Harold C. Pillsbury Student Research Award.

After receiving his MD, he remained at UNC to complete his internship and residency, both in Neurological Surgery. He received numerous awards during his training, including both the Hydrocephalus Association Award and the Resident Traveling Fellowship, both from the Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery. He was elected to UNC’s Academy of Educators, an honor previously reserved for faculty members, and was named a Socioeconomic Fellow of the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies. Finally, he relocated to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh where he completed a prestigious subspecialty fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery. He joined the University of Florida Department of Neurosurgery in 2017.

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Carolynn Hazen-Hamilton, APRN

Carolynn graduated from the University of Florida with a Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2021.  She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2015 from UF and worked for six years in UF’s Neurological ICU.


Christina Rockey

Christina Rockey

Christina is the Division Assistant for Pediatric Neurosurgery.  She has been a member of the department since 2006.


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Appointments/Referrals

At UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, every child diagnosed with a condition requiring neurosurgical expertise is cared for with an individualized treatment plan. We see patients within just a few days for non-emergency cases and within 24 hours for urgent cases.

Phone Numbers

  • New Patient Appointments
    352-273-6990
  • Main Office
    352-273-9000