This is an important landmark - and the only the beginning to more advocacy work around the world. Folate fortification is only in 23% of countries globally in the year 2023.  With appropriate levels of folate fortification in the prenatal period, it is estimated that >300,000 births with neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly can be prevented every year around the world.  Neurosurgeons joined together with global surgeons, public health experts, advocates, geneticists, food scientists, and so many more stakeholders such as my colleagues in the GAPSBIF alliance ..read more

Stay tuned for registration details!  Hotel accommodation included with registration.  Inquiries: akuk@luriechildrens.org  ..read more

I am thrilled to host this event again. There is no other platform for learning and discussing minimally invasive surgical approaches in pediatric neurosurgery. Here, we have a group of pediatric neurosurgeons who love operating. All have had advanced training in minimally invasive neurosurgery, and have gone on to push the frontiers of the field to achieve better and better outcomes for patients.  For instance, we cover:  eyebrow craniotomies and other keyhole approaches in children flexible and rigid neuroendoscopy for tumor, cysts, and hydrocephalus neuroendoscopic lavage endoscop ..read more

Amazing people come together to do amazing things. I have witnessed this through our Global Epilepsy initiative at Lurie Children's and CURE Uganda. The goal was to elevate the offerings of epilepsy care in the region with knowledge and skill transfer in epilepsy surgery, which can produce a surgical cure for seizures in well-selected patients especially with lesional epilepsy. My decade-long relationship with colleagues in subSaharan Africa has only increased my respect and confidence in the surgical skill and dedication of pediatric neurosurgeons like Dr. Emmanuel Wegoye and Dr. Humphrey Oke ..read more

I have had the honor of working in amazing families to learn about their epilepsy journeys and to develop informative on-demand webinars to address frequently asked questions.  November is Epilepsy Awareness Month, which provides a spotlight for a journey that we work on every single day of every year.  #LetsTalkAboutEpilepsySurgery is a terrific initiative started by Monika Jones JD at the Brain Recovery Project. I was honored to take part and discuss different types of epilepsy surgery for families approaching and considering these options for the first time. This is a great ..read more

I am grateful for the privilege of working with children and their amazing families. They inspire me every day. It is incredible that my minimally invasive endoscopic epilepsy surgery program has been able to help many young children and young adults. Baby Aurora's family shares their uplifting story and experience with endoscopic hemispherotomy. They traveled across country borders and state lines, and they felt that they were in the right place. The feeling is mutual. Ready about them in "Pediatric Neurosurgeon Halts Baby's Seizures with Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery."  ..read more

 Never before has there been such fertile ground in developing Health Services Research, Global Health, and Quality & Safety in Pediatric Neurosurgery. Currently, we are accepting applications for funded positions for neurosurgery residents in North America to spend 1-2 years with our team to do specialized health services, global health, and/or quality/safety research in pediatric neurosurgery as Research Scholars.   Whether it is working with one of the longest running and most active multidisciplinary spina bifida programs in the country, the Chicago Center for Fetal Medicine, the Healt ..read more

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with neurosurgery colleagues around the world. This summer, I was invited to travel to Taipei to help in a case of a child with rapid decline and worsening intractable epilepsy. A multi-institutional and multidisciplinary epilepsy surgery conference was held, and the consensus was to offer hemispherectomy surgery. I operated with her local neurosurgeons, applying the minimally invasive endoscopic hemispherotomy technique I have published. This week, the girl and her family held a press conference with her team at the National Taiwan University Chil ..read more

Houstonia Magazine highlighted top 5 breakthrough developments in the Texas Medical Center this year: it is an honor to report that my work in endoscopic hemispherotomy surgery for epilepsy is one of them.   Click here to see the feature by Morgan Kinney in the August 2019 issue of Houstonia ..read more

TMC Pulse magazine did a wonderful feature on a boy and his family, telling their story leading up to his endoscopic hemispherotomy as well as life after the surgery.  ​ ​Here is the link to Umair's story.  Photo from TMC Pulse magazine: Umair and his family pose in their home ..read more