Nowicki Takes Top Rowe Day Award Again

Pittsburgh, October 17, 2019 -- For the second year in a row, PGY-4 resident Kamil Nowicki, MD, PhD, received the best presentation award at the annual University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery Stuart Rowe Society Lectureship and Resident Research Day, held in the department on October 16.

Dr. Nowicki's presentation, "Blockade of the Platelet-Driven CXCL7-CXCR1/2 Pathway Prevents Cerebral Aneurysm Formation," was one of 10 research lectures presented by department residents during the day honoring Stuart Niles Rowe, widely considered the founding figure of neurosurgery training in the city of Pittsburgh and a strong advocate of broad neurosurgical training. Taking home runner-up honors was PGY-6 resident Jeremy Stone, MD, for his talk, "Transradial Versus Transfemoral Approaches for Diagnostic Cerebral Angiography: A Prospective Comparative Effectiveness Study."

Friedlander Niemelä Nowicki

The awards were chosen and presented by the lectureship’s honored guest, Mika Niemelä, MD, PhD, professor and chairman of neurosurgery at Helsinki University Hospital in Finland and an international expert in cerebrovascular diseases, brain and spine tumors, and brain aneurysms.

In addition to the resident lectures, the day featured a lecture by Dr. Niemelä, entitled "Etiology and Natural History of AVMs – Helsinki vs Aruba." Dr. Niemelä presented a second lecture, "Future Perspectives on Vascular Neurosurgery," at a special reception and dinner held in his honor later in the evening at the Duquesne Club.

This special day was established in 2005 as a tribute to Rowe who believed that neurosurgery training should not only teach exceptional technique, but also the critical clinical decision-making skills necessary to succeed. He preached the underlying need for thorough literature review and independent research as a means for broadening clinical knowledge.