TORONTO (April 23, 2001) -- Shekar N. Kurpad, MD, was presented with the 2001 Van Wagenen Fellowship at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 21-26, 2001 on Tuesday, April 24. The Fellowship provides funds for one-year of research outside of North America.
Dr. Kurpad is Chief Resident, Department of Neurosurgery, Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Kurpad earned an undergraduate degree from Bangalore University in India, a medical degree from Bangalore Medical College and a PhD in pathology from Duke University. His research at Duke on the molecular and cell biology of gliomas was published in first-rate peer-reviewed journals. His research project for the Van Wagenen Fellowship is titled "The Use of Neural Stem Cells Transfected with Mutant Alkylguanine Alkyltransferase (AGAT) Gene as a Mechanism to Protect CNS Tissue and Offer a Method of Selective Repopulation in the CNS." Dr. Kurpad's interest is in using stem cell transplants to protect and restore cerebral circuitry after high-dose intraarterial chemotherapy. To test it in a rodent model, will require him to learn how to evaluate cerebral function in various injury models. Dr. Kurpad will use the Van Wagenen Fellowship to study under Jonas Frisen, MD, Urban Lendahl, MD, and Lars Olson, MD, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
After completing his work in Sweden, Dr. Kurpad plans to return to Case Western Reserve University as a faculty member in the Department of Neurosurgery. He intends to practice general neurosurgery and to set up a research laboratory to conduct translational studies for the treating brain tumors. He plans to work with Stan Gerson, MD, in using a proposed neural stem cell transplantation model in the study of therapeutic approaches to gliomas, Parkinson's disease, stroke, cerebral palsy and other neurolopathologic processes. Dr. Kurpad has written extensively about his work, having authored more than 30 articles, book chapters and abstracts.
In 1966, the William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship was established by Mrs. Abigail R.Van Wagenen as a memorial to her late husband, who was a Charter member and the first President of the Harvey Cushing Society, now known as the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Advised by Harvey Cushing, MD, Dr. Van Wagenen spent an interval in Europe following his residency, broadening his knowledge of neurosurgery and the related basic sciences. The Fellowship is awarded annually and carries a $30,000 stipend for living and travel expenses to a foreign country for a period of at least six months. The first Fellowship was awarded in 1968, and the program has been administered by the AANS since its inception. Through Mrs. Van Wagenen's generosity and continued support, along with recent contributions from past Fellowship recipients and members of the Van Wagenen Committee, the stipend has increased over the years. However, the basic philosophy and criteria for the award remain unchanged: to provide for travel to a foreign country for observation, study, or research for scientific enrichment, in preparation for an academic career in neurological surgery or its allied sciences.
Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with nearly 5,800 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members of the AANS are Board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Neurological surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spinal column, spinal cord, brain, nervous system and peripheral nerves.
