Overview
Evidence he helped write.
Between 2016 and 2021, while with the Section of Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago, Dr. Hobbs co-authored 15 papers that are indexed on PubMed, the National Library of Medicine’s database of biomedical literature. 5 of them are first-author papers. Most are large national-database studies that ask a practical question: which of two reasonable operations carries less risk, and for whom.
That training shapes how he reads the evidence behind every recommendation he makes, including the newer technologies described on this site, and it means he can explain what a study does and does not show for your situation.
- Papers on PubMed
- 15
- First author
- 5
- Journals
- 9
- Years
- 2016–2021
Themes
What he studied
Four threads run through the papers. Choose one to filter the list below.
Publication record
All 15 papers
Each entry opens with a plain-language summary written for this site, followed by the formal citation. Titles link to the PubMed record, which carries the abstract and a link to the journal.
15 papers
No papers match. Try a different word or clear the filters.
20211 paper
Do surgeon payment units reflect how complex an operation really is?
Compared the work units used to value 64 common neurosurgical operations against hard measures of complexity in a national surgical database: operative time, hospital stay, mortality, readmission, and reoperation. The units tracked complexity well, with a few exceptions; multi-level spinal decompression was among the undervalued procedures.
Chiu RG, Siddiqui N, Nunna RS, Patel S, Rosinski CL, Chaker AN, Hobbs JG, Mehta AI. Association of Neurosurgical Work Relative Value Units with Objective Markers of Operative Complexity. World Neurosurgery. 2021;146:e194-e204. PMID 33091644. DOI
20201 paper
Expert commentary on long-term outcomes of spinal osteoblastoma
An invited commentary in Neurosurgery on a 70-patient, single-center study of osteoblastoma, a rare benign bone tumor of the spine, and the factors that affect prognosis after treatment.
Hobbs JG, Mehta AI. Commentary: Factors Affecting Prognosis of Patients With Osteoblastoma of the Mobile Spine: A Long-Term Follow-up Study of 70 Patients in a Single Center. Neurosurgery. 2020;86(1):E11-E12. PMID 30919893. DOI
20195 papers
Who is at risk of complications after pediatric tethered cord release?
Reviewed 3,682 children in a national pediatric surgical database who had surgery to release a tethered spinal cord. The operation is relatively safe, but longer operations, worse preoperative health, and the need for an operating microscope were linked with complications in the first 30 days.
Bhimani AD, Selner AN, Patel JB, Hobbs JG, Esfahani DR, Behbahani M, Zayyad Z, Nikas D, Mehta AI. Pediatric tethered cord release: an epidemiological and postoperative complication analysis. Journal of Spine Surgery. 2019;5(3):337-350. PMID 31663045. DOI
Does steroid use before surgery raise the risk of death for patients with metastatic spinal tumors?
Studied 552 patients with spinal metastases and widespread cancer who had spine surgery. Prolonged steroid use before the operation was independently associated with about 2.5 times the odds of death within 30 days, alongside dependent functional status, bleeding disorders, smoking, transfusion, and infection.
Hobbs JG, Patel AS, Chaker AN, Hasan N, Kumar P, Ramos E, Mehta AI. Steroid Use Associated With Increased Odds of 30-Day Mortality in Surgical Patients With Metastatic Spinal Tumors in the Setting of Disseminated Disease. Neurosurgery. 2019;85(3):394-401. PMID 30113676. DOI
Comparing two surgical routes to tumors of the pineal region
The first multi-institutional database comparison of approaches from above (supratentorial) and below (infratentorial) the tentorium to tumors of the pineal gland, a deep brain structure. After adjusting for patient factors, complication rates were not significantly different, supporting a choice based on anatomy and surgeon judgment.
Rosenberg DM, Geever BW, Patel AS, Chaker AN, Bhimani AD, Kheirkhah P, Hobbs JG, Esfahani DR, Mehta AI. Supratentorial and Infratentorial Approaches to Pineal Surgery: A Database Analysis. Journal of Neurological Surgery Part B: Skull Base. 2019;80(4):364-370. PMID 31316882. DOI
Reply to correspondence on the steroid and mortality study
The authors' published response to letters about their steroid study, clarifying the methods and what the findings do and do not show.
Hobbs JG, Ramos E, Mehta AI. In Reply: Steroid Use Associated With Increased Odds of 30-Day Mortality in Surgical Patients with Metastatic Spinal Tumors in the Setting of Disseminated Disease. Neurosurgery. 2019;84(3):E237-E238. PMID 30535240. DOI
How risky is surgery for spinal cord tumors in children?
Analyzed 139 children who had tumors removed from inside the spinal cord. No patient died within 30 days and readmission and reoperation were uncommon, but tumors in the neck carried a higher chance of a return to the operating room, often for breathing or fluid-pressure problems.
Bhimani AD, Rosinski CL, Denyer S, Hobbs JG, Patel S, Shah K, Mudreac A, Diamond R, Behbahani M, Mehta AI. Acute Surgical Risk Profile of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Tumor Resection in Pediatric Patients: A Pediatric National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Analysis. World Neurosurgery. 2019;121:e389-e397. PMID 30266692. DOI
20184 papers
Spinal epidural abscess: does adding a fusion to the decompression help or hurt?
A propensity-matched comparison of 738 patients treated surgically for spinal epidural abscess, a serious spine infection. Both laminectomy alone and laminectomy with fusion treated the infection, but adding fusion nearly doubled the odds of a return to the operating room within 30 days and increased blood transfusions.
Chaker AN, Bhimani AD, Esfahani DR, Rosinski CL, Geever BW, Patel AS, Hobbs JG, Burch TG, Patel S, Mehta AI. Epidural Abscess: A Propensity Analysis of Surgical Treatment Strategies. Spine. 2018;43(24):E1479-E1485. PMID 29916954. DOI
Two ways to stabilize a broken upper neck: which carries less risk?
Compared C1–C2 fusion with occipitocervical fusion in 165 adults with fractures of the second cervical vertebra. Occipitocervical fusion had a significantly higher rate of return to the operating room and a longer operation, which informs the choice when an odontoid screw is not an option.
Bhimani AD, Chiu RG, Esfahani DR, Patel AS, Denyer S, Hobbs JG, Mehta AI. C1-C2 Fusion Versus Occipito-Cervical Fusion for High Cervical Fractures: A Multi-Institutional Database Analysis and Review of the Literature. World Neurosurgery. 2018;119:e459-e466. PMID 30071333. DOI
Front or back approach for removing a thoracic vertebra?
Reviewed 1,327 thoracic corpectomies, an operation that removes a vertebral body for tumor, trauma, deformity, or infection. After adjusting for patient differences, reoperation, readmission, death, and complication rates were similar for the anterior and posterior approaches, so either can be chosen on anatomy and surgeon judgment.
Chiu RG, Hobbs J, Esfahani DR, Patel S, Rosenberg D, Rosinski CL, Patel AS, Chaker AN, Mehta AI. Anterior Versus Posterior Approach for Thoracic Corpectomy: An Analysis of Risk Factors, Outcomes, and Complications. World Neurosurgery. 2018;116:e723-e732. PMID 29778596. DOI
A brain hemorrhage that turned out to be the first sign of myeloma
Case report of a previously healthy 48-year-old whose emergency brain hemorrhage led to a diagnosis of plasma cell (multiple) myeloma, the first published description of this presentation.
Hobbs JG, Van Slambrouck C, Miller JL, Yamini B. Intracranial hemorrhage as initial manifestation of plasma cell myeloma: A case report. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. 2018;50:133-135. PMID 29428262. DOI
20171 paper
How image guidance makes spinal tumor surgery more precise
A review of the imaging and navigation technology used to plan and perform removal of spinal column tumors, from preoperative visualization to intraoperative guidance that helps surgeons remove more tumor while protecting the structures around it.
Desai B, Hobbs J, Hartung G, Xu G, Gokaslan ZL, Linninger A, Mehta AI. Image-guidance technology and the surgical resection of spinal column tumors. Journal of Neuro-Oncology. 2017;131(3):425-435. PMID 27896519. DOI
20163 papers
Hydrocephalus and the brain's water channels
A review of aquaporin-4, the water channel implicated in hydrocephalus, the possibility of future drug therapies that control fluid balance instead of mechanical shunting, and computer modeling of cerebrospinal fluid flow.
Desai B, Hsu Y, Schneller B, Hobbs JG, Mehta AI, Linninger A. Hydrocephalus: the role of cerebral aquaporin-4 channels and computational modeling considerations of cerebrospinal fluid. Neurosurgical Focus. 2016;41(3):E8. PMID 27581320. DOI
What traumatic brain injury means for the aging brain
A review of the links between traumatic brain injury, including repeated sports concussions, and later neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Young JS, Hobbs JG, Bailes JE. The Impact of Traumatic Brain Injury on the Aging Brain. Current Psychiatry Reports. 2016;18(9):81. PMID 27432348. DOI
Sports concussions: diagnosis, complications, and management
A review of sports-related concussion, which affects up to 3.8 million athletes a year: on-field diagnosis, the rare complications that need neurosurgical care, rest and gradual return-to-play protocols, and emerging imaging tools.
Hobbs JG, Young JS, Bailes JE. Sports-related concussions: diagnosis, complications, and current management strategies. Neurosurgical Focus. 2016;40(4):E5. PMID 27032922. DOI
PubMed indexes several unrelated authors as “Hobbs JG” and “Hobbs J”. This list contains only papers by Dr. Jonathan G. Hobbs, matched by his University of Chicago neurosurgery affiliation and co-authors, and was last checked against PubMed on . Open exactly these 15 papers on PubMed.
Academic roles
Beyond the papers
Clinical Associate, Department of Neurosurgery
University of Chicago, appointed 2026. An academic appointment held alongside his practice at Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute.
Peer reviewer
Reviews manuscripts submitted to Spine, The Spine Journal, and the Journal of Neurotrauma, the process that decides what those journals publish.
Research training
M.S. in Public Health Sciences from the University of Chicago, earned alongside his neurological surgery residency there, where he served as chief resident.
Professional societies
American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and North American Spine Society.
Common questions
Where can I read the full papers?
Each title links to its PubMed record, which shows the abstract and links to the journal. Some papers are free to read through PubMed Central; others require journal access or a library. The plain-language summaries on this page were written for patients and are not substitutes for the papers themselves.
Does a study on this page mean a treatment is right for me?
No. These studies describe groups of patients and the average risks of different operations. Whether any of them applies to you depends on your examination, imaging, history, and goals, which are discussed at a consultation. How to use the medical information on this site.
Was Dr. Hobbs the lead author?
He is first author on 5 of the 15 papers, including the Neurosurgery study on does steroid use before surgery raise the risk of death for patients with metastatic spinal tumors, and a co-author on the others with a neurosurgery research group spanning the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. In the citations on this page his name is shown in bold.
Why were the papers published between 2016 and 2021?
They were written while Dr. Hobbs was with the Section of Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago. Since then his work has centered on patient care at Lakeshore Bone & Joint Institute. He reviews manuscripts for Spine, The Spine Journal, and the Journal of Neurotrauma, and in 2026 was appointed a clinical associate in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago. New PubMed-indexed papers are added to this page when they appear.
How is this list kept accurate?
PubMed indexes several unrelated authors as “Hobbs JG” and “Hobbs J”, so a bare author search returns papers that are not his. This list contains only papers by Dr. Jonathan G. Hobbs, matched by his University of Chicago neurosurgery affiliation and co-authors, and was last checked against PubMed on October 18, 2026. Open exactly these 15 papers on PubMed.
Bring your questions
If a study here raises a question about your own spine care, bring it to a consultation. Dr. Hobbs reviews your imaging and examination with you and explains which evidence applies to your situation.