The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery Professor Brandon Rocque, M.D., and Assistant Professor Elizabeth McRae, Ph.D., recently presented at the Hydrocephalus Association's largest research workshop to date.
The workshop, titled “Why Hydrocephalus Matters: Population Burden, Economic Impact, and Barriers to Care,” hosted more than 120 health professionals, policy experts, patients and industry representatives to discuss improvements in hydrocephalus treatment.
Hydrocephalus is a lifelong condition that affects individuals of all ages, including more than 1 million Americans. Beyond the physical limitations associated with the condition, it can also affect the mental health, quality of life and socioeconomic access of the patient and their family.
With these barriers in mind, workshop participants were encouraged to develop comprehensive solutions that considered the institutional and personal obstacles that hydrocephalus patients face. In their presentations, Rocque discussed racial and ethnic disparities of hydrocephalus outcomes, and McRae discussed the high prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms in families of children with hydrocephalus.
Through their partnership with the Rudi Schulte Research Institute’s (RSRI), a nonprofit that conducts and provides funding to neurological research, the Hydrocephalus Association is able to host such symposiums that bring leading experts and patients from around the world together to innovate hydrocephalus treatment and management.