Pittsburgh, September 1, 2006 -- Department vice-chair of education, Douglas Kondziolka, MD, and department vice-chair of research, P. David Adelson, MD, were recently elected to serve as president and vice president, respectively, of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) beginning with the group's annual meeting in October 2006.

CNS is a leading international neurosurgical organization with a mission to promote public welfare through the advancement of neurosurgery, through a commitment to excellence in education, and by dedication to research and scientific knowledge.

Dr. Kondziolka has served on the executive committee of the CNS in numerous roles over the past nine years including chair of the fellowships and publications committees, scientific program chair, annual meeting chair, treasurer, and strategic planning committee.

Dr. Kondziolka, co-director of the Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery, also is past-president of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, past-chairman of the Joint Section on Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery of the AANS/CNS, and past-president of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society.

He is a two-time recipient of the Stephen Mahaley Award for brain tumor clinical research from the Joint Section on Tumors of the AANS/CNS. He received the Lars Leksell Award from the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. In 2004, he was honored as the Penfield Lecturer of the Canadian Neurosurgical Society.

Dr. Adelson is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in head injury and epilepsy in children. He has been the recipient of multiple awards, including The Best Doctors in America, Young Investigators Award of the Brain Injury Association, Congress of Neurological Surgeons Clinical Investigation Award and Outstanding Physician Award.

He currently serves as chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care and co-chair of the AANS/CNS Joint Guidelines Committee. He also recently served as treasurer of the CNS.

Dr. Adelson is director of pediatric neurotrauma at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh as well as director of the Surgical Epilepsy Center and the Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Center and Clinic.

He also sits on the executive committee of the Think First Foundation, a national injury prevention, non-profit organization focused on injury prevention education.

The CNS also announced recently that it has selected former department chairman L. Dade Lunsford, MD, as its honored guest for its 2007 annual meeting in San Diego, September 15-20.