Pittsburgh, September 15, 2025 -- Edward Chang, MD, professor and chair of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco, has been named the honored guest for the 2025 Stuart Rowe Society Lectureship and Resident Research Day at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery scheduled for November 12 at UPMC Presbyterian.
Dr. Chang specializes in advanced brain mapping methods to preserve crucial areas for speech and motor functions in the brain, treating patients with epilepsy, brain tumors, and cranial nerve nerve compression syndromes such as trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. He also has extensive experience with implantable devices that stimulate specific nerves to relieve seizure, movement, pain and other disorders.
His research focuses on the brain mechanisms for speech, movement and human emotion. He co-directs the Center for Neural Engineering and Prostheses, a collaborative enterprise of UCSF and the University of California, Berkeley. The center brings together experts in engineering, neurology and neurosurgery to develop state-of-the-art biomedical technology to restore function for patients with neurological disabilities such as paralysis and speech disorders.
Dr. Chang earned his medical degree at UCSF, where he also completed a residency in neurosurgery. He was honored with the Blavatnik National Laureate for Life Sciences in 2015, in recognition of his contributions to deciphering the neural code of speech. He is the inaugural Bowes Biomedical Investigator at UCSF and HHMI Faculty Scholar and was inducted to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.
The Stuart Rowe Society Lectureship is held in honor of Stuart Niles Rowe, MD, the first formally-trained neurosurgeon to practice in Pittsburgh. Rowe is widely considered the founding figure of neurosurgery training in the city, establishing the base of what would later become the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery.
Rowe 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.
In addition to Dr. Chang's special lecture, the Stuart Rowe Society Lectureship and Resident Research Day features department residents presenting a series of short presentations, each spotlighting a topical research issue relevant in the field. The resident talks are followed by discussion moderated by Dr. Chang. The honored guest will then select a "Best Presentation" award, presented at a special reception held in Dr. Chang's honor later in the evening.
For more information on this year's Stuart Rowe Society Lectureship, please contact Barbara DeRiggi at 412-647-6358.