NREF Initiative to Honor Former Ped Chief

A. Leland AlbrightPittsburgh, November 30, 2015 -- The Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons has established the A. Leland Albright Fund to help support training of neurosurgery residents and fellows in Africa, honoring the volunteer work of the former chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Albright served as a medical missionary from 2010 to 2015 in Kijabe, Kenya where he taught two pediatric neurosurgery fellows and 15 neurosurgery residents from the University of Nairobi, while performing more than 5,000 operations with his colleagues.

Dr. Albright was chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC from 1992 to 2006, leading a nationally-renown program that included a multi-disciplinary spasticity and movement disorders center that drew referrals of children from throughout the United States. His work was honored with an endowed chair at the University of Pittsburgh in 2002, currently held by Ian Pollack, MD, Dr. Albright’s successor at Children's.

Dr. Albright relocated to the University of Wisconsin Health Center in 2006 before beginning his volunteer work in Kenya.

The NREF’s A. Leland Albright Fund initiative is part of the organization’s “Honor Your Neurosurgical Mentor” program that recognizes the role of exceptional neurosurgeons who have made significant contributions in the advancement of neurosurgery through education.

More information on donating to the fund can be found on the NREF website.

Catherine A. Mazzola, MD, of the New Jersey Pediatric Neuroscience Institute and a fellow under Dr. Albright in 2001-02, is serving as the fund’s manager.