Pittsburgh, May 22, 2003 -- The University of Pittsburgh honored Ian Pollack, MD, with installation as Walter Dandy Professor May 22 in a ceremony in the Fricks Fine Arts Auditorium. Pollack marked the honor, formerly presented by university provost and senior vice chancelor James V. Maher, by delivering a lecture on novel strategies in brain tumor research and treatment.

Dr. Pollack is co-director of the Brain Tumor Center of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

He has been listed in "Best Doctors in America" and "Who's Who in Science and Engineering" and has been awarded several research grants from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Pollack has more than 170 publications on a variety of topics in neurosurgery, has edited two monographs on childhood brain tumors, and is co-editor of the recently published book, Principles and Practice of Pediatric Neurosurgery.

His primary research interests focus on identifying and evaluating innovative strategies for treating malignant brain tumors, improving the treatment of children with brain tumors, and optimizing the management of childhood craniofacial disorders. He currently chairs the Brain Tumor Strategy Group of the Children's Cancer Group, is institutional principal investigator in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), and chair of the Drug Delivery Committee of the PBTC.

The professorship is named in the honor of Walter E. Dandy (1886-1946) of Johns Hopkins University, a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery. Dandy is widely regarded as the most capable and renown surgeon of his day. In 1919, while only a resident, he developed ventriculography making it possible for the first time to diagnose accurately the location of an intracranial brain tumor in some 95% of patients.

The ceremony and lecture were followed by a reception attended by Dr. Pollack's colleagues, family and friends.