Pittsburgh, October 27, 2022 -- Xiaoran (Zel) Zhang, MD, received the best resident presentation award at the 16th Annual Stuart Rowe Society Lectureship and Resident Research Day held October 26 at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery.
Dr. Zhang's presentation, "B Cells and Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in Melanoma and Lung Metastases to the Brain," was one of 10 research lectures presented by department residents during the day honoring Stuart Niles Rowe, MD, widely considered the founding figure of neurosurgery training in the city of Pittsburgh and a strong advocate of thorough research and literature review in residency training.
Hussam Abou-Al-Shaar, MD, took home runner-up honors for his presentation, “Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Vestibular Schwannoma in Neurofibromatosis Type 2: An International Multicenter Study of Treatment Response and Malignant Transformation Risk,” while Kamil Nowicki, MD, PhD, received an honorable mention award for his presentation “From Small Molecule Inhibitors to Space-Age Alloys: Future Treatments for Cerebral Aneurysms." It was the third award honor at a Rowe Day for Dr. Nowicki who received the top award in both 2018 and 2019.
The awards were chosen and presented by the lectureship’s honored guest, Linda Liau, MD, PhD, MBA, chair and executive medical director of the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery and director of the UCLA Brain Tumor Program, who presented a talk on "The Promise of Immunotherapy for Treatment of Glioblastoma." A special reception and dinner was held in her honor later in the evening at the Pittsburgh Golf Club where she presented a second lecture, "Neurosurgery and Motherhood: Finding Balance through Work-Life Integration." Dr. Liau was also joined by Dr. Rowe's grandchildren Scott Wucher and Kathy Martz, who provided some personal reflections of their grandfather.
This special day was established in 2005 as a tribute to Dr. 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 independent research as a means for broadening clinical knowledge.