Lance S. Governale, MD, FAANS, FAAP, is the chief of pediatric neurosurgery at UF Health Shands Children's Hospital and the L.D. Hupp Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He joined UF 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.

Dr. Governale has received awards from his colleagues for excellence in research, teaching and clinical care, including the Harvard Medical School Richardson Research Fellowship for MD Scientists, a nomination for the Harvard Medical School Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching, and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Educator of the Year Award. He has also been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in Pediatric Neurosurgery. Dr. Governale’s research interests focus on clinical outcomes, quality improvement and medical informatics. He is a member of multiple professional societies, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Although he enjoys the full range of pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Governale is especially interested in craniosynostosis, minimally invasive neurosurgery (including endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus and craniosynostosis), brain/spinal cord tumors, tethered spinal cords, arachnoid cysts and cavernous malformations. He is board certified by both the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Governale sees patients in the office at UF Health’s Gainesville, Tallahassee, Ocala and Lake City locations. Surgery is performed at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville.