Carson, Benjamin (1951-...), is an American pediatric neurosurgeon (surgeon specializing in the brain and spinal cord of children). In 1987, he led the Johns Hopkins University surgical team that successfully separated conjoined twins, also called Siamese twins. The twins, 7-month-old boys born in what was then West Germany, were joined at the back of their heads and shared a major vein that had to be split and rebuilt in each baby's brain. The delicate and exhausting 22-hour surgery required a team of 70 professionals in the operating room. See Conjoined twins.