Francesco T. Mangano, DO, FACS, FAAP, FACOS

I am currently the Associate Surgeon-in-Chief at Cincinnati Children’s. In my subspecialty, I hold the Mary Jane and Bob Tritsch Chair of Neurological Surgery and Pediatrics.

After graduating from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completing my neurosurgical residency at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in 2004, I completed my training at St. Louis Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri as a fellow in pediatric neurosurgery. Since joining the faculty at Cincinnati Children's, I have been instrumental in developing our nationally renowned Pediatric Epilepsy Program and serve as the Director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Program.

I am currently the Janszen Scholar in Neurosurgery at Cincinnati Children’s. My work has been awarded NIH/NINDS funding for several research studies. We investigated advanced MRI imaging techniques in children with congenital hydrocephalus and established DTI as a non-invasive biomarker for white matter injury in this condition. I also head a basic science lab (Mangano/Goto) primarily focused on studying new models of hydrocephalus and currently have active projects and pending patents for novel ways to perform intraventricular lavage and the use of AAV vectors to achieve choroid plexus ablation with minimally invasive approaches.

My academic endeavors have resulted in >180 publications and numerous book chapters. I have presented my work nationally and internationally and continue to teach and educate locally as the site PI in pediatric neurosurgery for the University of Cincinnati and the Henry Ford Medical Center residency programs. In 2025, I founded the Cincinnati Gap Year Program in Neurosurgery which funds yearlong research projects for medical students who want to pursue a career in neurosurgery.

I am the fellowship director for the Cincinnati Children’s Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship programs, which have graduated >26 fellows and continue to recruit nationally and internationally every year. I am a member of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons, the AANS/CNS Section of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery. I have been board certified in Neurological Surgery by the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery since 2008. I have had the honor to serve in several leadership roles in national organizations such as the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (98th President) and I’m a current member of the ACGME Review Committee for Neurological Surgery.