Paul A Grabb, MD

As a pediatric neurosurgeon, Paul Grabb, MD, specializes in diagnosing and treating children with conditions affecting the nerves, brain, and spinal cord.

His expertise includes a wide range of disorders:

• Brain and spine tumors
• Brain vascular malformations
• Cervical spine trauma and instability
• Chiari malformations
• Epilepsy
• Head injury
• Hydrocephalus Moyamoya syndrome
• Spina bifida

Dr. Grabb enjoys the variety and spectrum of caring for children – whether a tiny baby still in the womb or a teenager on the verge of young adulthood. With every encounter, Dr. Grabb strives to develop a personal connection with the patient and their families, providing straightforward information about therapies and procedures, and reassuring their anxieties.

“What I love about what I do is that no two days are the same,” he says. “And at the end of each day, I always hope I made someone's life better, or at least know that I gave the best attempt to do so.”

Though born in Seattle, Washington, Dr. Grabb considers Virginia his home. He was just a few weeks old when his family moved to Virginia after his father – a Coast Guard officer – received transfer orders to Portsmouth.

While his father’s assignments took the Grabb family to places such as Cleveland, Boston, and Washington, D.C., Dr. Grabb spent most of his school-age years living in Fairfax. He went on to earn his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Virginia (UVA).

After graduating from the UVA School of Medicine in 1988, Dr. Grabb completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh and his fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Alabama.

He has served on the faculty and clinical staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the Children's Hospital of Alabama; the University of Colorado and the Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs, where he directed the pediatric neurosurgery program; and Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, serving as chief of the division of neurosurgery.

From an early age, Dr. Grabb was mostly interested in outdoor activities, such as camping, boating, hiking, and fishing. But he also was intrigued by the stories his mother, a nurse, would share about her experiences working for the only doctor in a rural county of northern Michigan.

His love for and aptitude in the sciences and mathematics fueled his early interest in becoming a wildlife or fisheries biologist. However, “the atmosphere and environment at UVA pointed me toward medical school as the next step,” Dr. Grabb says.

“I was and remain fascinated by the science of life.”

Dr. Grabb’s wife, Brenda – who also received bachelor’s and medical degrees from UVA – is an accomplished, retired pediatric radiologist. They have two adult children who followed them into the world of medicine. Their son, Declan, is a psychiatrist, while their younger son Gavin is pursuing a career in veterinary medicine.

A little-known fact about Dr. Grabb: As a high schooler and college student, he had a part-time job as a Zamboni driver at a local ice arena. “I've learned throughout the years that people think Zamboni drivers are way cooler than neurosurgeons,” he says.

Gender

Male

Languages

English

Age Groups Seen

Infants (0-2)
Children (2-12)
Adolescents (12-21)

Primary Education

University of Virginia School of Medicine

Residency

University of Pittsburgh

Fellowships

Children's Hospital of Alabama

Certification

American Board of Neurological Surgery (Neurological Surgery)