In 1954, James Garber Galbraith, M.D., established the Division of Neurosurgery within the UAB Heersink School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, where he laid the foundation for the now-Department of Neurosurgery’s culture of growth and compassionate care.

Each year, the UAB Department of Neurosurgery gathers to honor Galbraith’s dedication to his science, his patients and his work.

The 39th Annual J. Garber Galbraith, M.D., Scientific Session and Lecture was held on Oct. 21, in the Kaul Human Genetics Building. The Galbraith Scientific Session, open to UAB faculty and residents, community neurosurgeons and former residents of the UAB Department of Neurosurgery, allows current neurosurgery residents to present and highlight their research. The Galbraith Lecture is given by a distinguished guest neurosurgeon who has made significant contributions to the field of neurosurgery.

Jacques J. Morcos, M.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng), F.R.C.S. (Ed), FAANS, traveled from Miami, FL, to serve as the 39th Galbraith Lecturer.

Morcos has been at the University of Miami since 1995 and is currently professor and co-chair in the Department of Neurosurgery with a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology. He is the director of Cerebrovascular and Skull Base Surgery at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital and division chief of Cranial Neurosurgery and director of the Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Fellowship Program at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The annual event started with Neurosurgery Grand Rounds on Thursday, Oct. 20, at UAB’s Faculty Office Tower, where faculty and residents gathered for Morcos’s first lecture: “Cerebrovascular and Skull Base Surgery: The Inseparable Twins.”

The Scientific Session concluded with Morcos’s Galbraith Lecture: “Bypass Surgery for Moyamoya and Cerebral Ischemia: Physiology, Techniques, Flow Date, Outcomes and New Concepts,” which was followed by a dinner and reception at the Birmingham Museum of Art on Friday night.

Winners

Garber Galbraith, M.D, Research Prize:

• Adeel Ilyas, M.D. – PYG6, Pro-Ictal State in Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Griffith R. Harsh III, M.D., Research Prize:

• Dago Estevez-Ordonez, M.D. – PGY5, Phase I clinical trial of oncolytic HSV-1 M032, a second-generation virus armed to expressed IL-12, for the treatment of recurrent or progressive high-grade glioma

Richard B. Morawetz, M.D., Research Prize:

• Andrew Hale, M.D., PhD – PYG2, Integrative genomics implicates decreased FDG6 expression underlying risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture

Richard B. Morawetz, M.D., Research Prize:

• Nick Laskay – PGY5, Virtual Reality Simulation Module for Pedicle Screw Placement in Neurosurgical Trainees: Pilot Study

Stephen Mahaley Jr., M.D., Research Prize (Translational Research Prize):

• Adeel Ilyas, M.D. – PYG6, Pro-Ictal State in Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy