|
|
|
|
|
|
Medtronic, the sole Platinum Level exhibitor in Carlsbad, deserves the Western's thanks for making the meeting a success.
We hope our members will support the companies that support the Western.
|
|
|
Hawaii Venue Visit
(There is a signed contract with each annual meeting venue created years in advance outlining the anticipated events, their locations and the amenities therein (food & drink, AV, etc.) and many of the costs of same. It is the policy of the Society to fund a visit to the forthcoming annual meeting venue by the President and Secretary/Treasurer in order for them to clarify and refine and flesh-out the issues related to the annual meeting. President Marty Weinand filed the following report regarding such a recent visit.)
While at the Fairmont Orchid on the Island of Hawaii, President, Marty Weinand, and Secretary-Treasurer-Elect, Marco Lee, met with the resort Catering and Conference Services Manager and AudioVisual Director to finalize this year's annual meeting details. Marty and Marco visited the resort suites and guest rooms and toured the hotel meeting rooms, including the Plaza Ballroom for the scientific sessions, which is located adjacent to the area for vendors and member and guest breakfasts. With Shauna Weinand, they visited the shaded courtyard venue, Nanea Lanai, for the spouses' breakfasts which was selected for its serene and private qualities and proximity to the scientific session meeting ballroom and vendor exhibit area.
The opening reception, on Friday, September 14, 2018 will be located on the resort Croquet Lawn and will include vendors. Cuisine will include traditional Hawaiian seafood with Asian influences. Because this venue is outdoors on grass, Shauna recommends that members pack the appropriate footwear.
Similar to the prior Kauai Local Night's, the Hawaiian Island Local Night will be held at the Fairmont Orchid Coconut Grove. The entire event is located on a sandy beach overlooking the ocean. Shauna recommends that attendees should be aware of the beach location when packing the appropriate footwear for the evening. Local Night will have a Luau theme but rather than a traditional luau the cuisine will be "Taste of the Pacific" with luau-inspired entertainment.
The banquet reception will be located at an open plaza with a beautiful fountain followed by the dinner and dance in the resort Ballroom. During the banquet, there will be a child's Keiki (Hawaiian for child or "little one") Aloha Adventure Program party including dinner and activities for ages 5 to 12 years.
With the assistance of Jay Morgan as Local Arrangements Chair and his wife Sherry, the Fairmont Orchid resort tennis and the award winning Mauna Lani golf venues were selected. In addition, afternoon activities will include a Saturday ocean boat ride with available snorkeling for up to 49 people and Sunday helicopter rides and a guided historical hike from the resort and along the ocean to the King's ponds. Shauna encourages members and guests to pack a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a water bottle.
The Fairmont Orchid has a man-made swimming lagoon that empties into the ocean, safe for swimmers of all ages. Marco Lee and his wife, Vanessa, spent time in the lagoon and recommend submersible swim shoes as the bottom of the lagoon is rocky. Adjacent to the lagoon is a volcanic beach where the Hawaiian green sea turtles often sun themselves.
The Fairmont Orchid resort is a 30 minute drive from Kona International Airport. For those who choose not to rent a car, a resort shuttle is available to local shops and the nearby Mauna Lani resort. An advantage of renting a car includes access to many additional area activities including visiting the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Kilauea Volcano), the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, a local Vanillary, many excellent local cuisine restaurants and multiple wonderful additional attractions in 11 of the world's 13 climate zones on the island.
The Conference Manager recommends that all members join the Fairmont President’s Club (http://www.fairmont.com/fpc/members-rate/) to receive discounts on many benefits including the spa, tennis, bike rentals and shop purchases.
--Marty Weinand
|
|
|
|
CLOWARD MEDAL 2018
Edward R. Laws, MD, FACS, FAANS
It is with great pleasure that the Society announces that the recipient of the 2018 Cloward Award will be Edward R. Laws, MD, FACS, FAANS
Edward Raymond Laws, Jr. was born in New York City on April 29, 1938. Growing up during World War II, he became interested in many things, but in particular aviation. In addition to excelling in school he began flying lessons in a Piper Cub on floats at age 14. He has remained an aviation buff since then. He stated that he probably has more books on the subject of aviation than he does on neurosurgery! He applied for admission to the inaugural class at the Air Force Academy in 1955, was accepted academically, but failed his eye test. The Academy’s loss—Neurosurgery’s gain.
Instead, he enrolled in Princeton University, graduating with honors in both economics and sociology in the Special Program in American Civilization. He then attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, receiving his MD at that institution in 1963. He matriculated into his surgical internship also at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He then fulfilled his two year commitment in the US Public Health Service at the CDC. He then started his neurosurgery residency under Dr. A. Earl Walker, graduating in 1971. After completing his residency he joined the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Medical School with primary appointment in Pediatric Neurosurgery. In 1972 he moved to Rochester, Minnesota to join the staff at the Mayo Clinic where he ultimately became a professor in surgery and developed their programs in pituitary surgery and epilepsy surgery along with continuing his research in the metabolism and pathophysiology of primary brain tumors.
In 1987 he became Professor and Chairman at the Department of Neurosurgery at the George Washington University in Washington, DC where his work culminated in the development of the George Washington Neurological Institute. In 1992 he joined the neurosurgery staff at the University of Virginia, establishing the Neuroendocrinology Center there and held an Endowed Professorship of Neurosurgery where he also served as Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics. In 2007 he joined the faculty at Stanford University where he was Director of the Stanford Pituitary Neuroendocrine Center. In 2008 he joined the faculty at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where he remains active in pituitary and brain tumor surgery and research. Currently, he is the Surgical Director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Pituitary and Neuroendocrine Center and member of the Neuroendocrinology Group at the Brigham and Dana Farber Cancer Center.
During his surgical career he has operated on more than 7,500 brain tumors, of which 5,900 have been pituitary lesions and he has maintained active research interest in brain tumors: pituitary tumors, in particular.
He has been involved conspicuously in leadership in neurosurgery, having served as the President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, a Director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and involved in a number of educational initiatives for organized neurosurgery. He has served as Editor of one of our two major journals, Neurosurgery. In addition to neurosurgery, he has been a leader in other surgical societies including President of the American College of Surgeons from 2004 to 2005; the fifth neurosurgeon to serve in that position. He has been an honored guest at neurosurgery societies throughout the world including the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and has received the Cushing Medal of the AANS. He served as President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. He has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Foundation of International Education in Neurosurgery. He is recognized for his sustained work with pituitary tumors; in particular, and has been President of the Pituitary Society. Dr. Laws has authored over 800 scientific papers, book chapters, and was co-editor with Andrew Kay of the encyclopedic volume: Brain Tumors. In 2005 he was elected to membership of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, now known as the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Laws met his wife Peggy while a senior medical student at the Johns Hopkins Medical School after she came to Johns Hopkins from the University of Pennsylvania and the National Institute of Health to be the nursing instructor for the recovery room. He has four daughters and six grandchildren. His eldest daughter is an equine surgeon trained at the University of Pennsylvania. His second daughter is the CEO of HOPE Lab, a company that improves health for the underserved, studies and intervenes in teen suicide, etc. His third daughter is a former ballerina and fashion model who now has rental properties in Costa Rica. His fourth is a federal judge for the National Labor Relations Board. He has grandchildren ranging from 12 to 23 whom he tries to visit as often as possible.
Dr. Laws has significantly contributed to neurosurgery educationally, in research and most conspicuously in his leadership. He has been an outstanding ambassador of US neurosurgery to the international neurosurgical community as well as to organized medicine both here in the United States and worldwide.
Dr. Laws’ topic, to be addressed at our meeting in September of 2018 at the Fairmont Orchid Resort in Hawaii, will be “Virtuosity in Surgery and Neurosurgery”.
--W. Ganz
WNS Communications Committee
|
|
|
Michael S. B. Edwards, MD
George Ablin Memorial Lecturer 2018
The Ablin Lecture at each annual meeting affords the President the opportunity to present speakers on topics that he feels would interest meeting attendees. The lecture honors the memory of George Ablin and his contributions to neurosurgery in general and the Western in particular. This year’s lecturer is Mike Edwards whose long career as a practitioner and teacher of pediatric neurosurgery in northern California affords him a unique view of a subspecialty over time.
Dr. Edwards completed his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville and his Medical Degree from Tulane University. He continued at Tulane for his internship and neurosurgical residency. He then moved west to San Francisco to complete a neuro-oncology fellowship under Charles B. Wilson in 1977. He remained at UCSF as faculty and was appointed the director of the pediatric division in 1987. From 1992-1995, Dr. Edwards served as the Vice-Chair of the department and he remained a Clinical Professor until 1999. He then practiced in Sacramento at Sutter Medical Center but returned to the Bay Area in 2004 as an Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatric Neurosurgery at Stanford University Medical Center. In 2007, he became the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and served in this role until his recent retirement.
Michael has been very active in organized neurosurgery throughout his career, serving on many committees in the AANS and CNS and as the President of the California Association of Neurosurgeons in 2005. He has been a visiting professor across the United States and has given invited lectures across the globe. As an international leader in pediatric neurosurgery, he has served on multiple medical advisory boards relating to pediatric neurosurgical diseases and on editorial boards of many peer-reviewed journals.
His research has mainly focused on brain tumor biology and therapy with a special interest in childhood medulloblastoma. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and edited several neurosurgical books. Dr. Edwards is by all accounts, a master surgeon but by far one of his greatest gifts, is training future neurosurgeons and inspiring the next generation of pediatric neurosurgeons. The many pediatric fellows he trained during his career have gone on to flourish in practice all over the world.
Michael and his wife, Linda, have a son and daughter who they enjoy bicycling and skiing with at their home on Lake Tahoe. You may also find him driving his Ford Raptor or spending time with his grandchildren. We look forward to welcoming him to the Western Neurosurgical Society annual meeting as our Ablin Lecturer.
--C. Harraher
WNS Communications Committee
|
|
|
|
Ablin Lecturer moves on
Dr. Lucy Kalanithi--the WNS Ablin lecturer for 2017 and the widow of Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgical resident at Stanford whose battle with cancer is poignantly covered in his book When Breath Becomes Air published after his death in 2015 and in which Lucy wrote the epilogue--keeps making nice news.
Her presentation and Q&A with the audience at our 2017 meeting was riveting and frank and was a match for the Cloward address by Volker Sonntag. I don't think I was alone in wondering if she had hopes for a new relationship and I certainly didn't have the temerity to ask her about that.
Well, Time magazine reports that she had written a blub for, and become good friends with, Nina Riggs, who wrote The Bright Hour about Riggs battle with breast cancer. The book was published last June after Riggs death but before her passing, she encouraged her husband John Duberstein to contact Lucy for support after she was gone. This he did and an email correspondence developed culminating in their planning on a future together.
It is nice that nice things also happen to nice people.
--R. Smith; Communications Committee
|
|
|
|
|
Charles B. Wilson, MD 1929-2018
Charles Byron Wilson, whose name was recognized by every neurosurgeon worldwide, died February 24, 2018 in Greenbrae, California after a long battle with heart disease.
Charlie (as he was known to close friends and associates, “Dr. Wilson” to the rest of us) was born in Neosho, Missouri, a farming community in the Ozark mountain range with a population of 5000. His father, Byron, was a pharmacist who owned a local drugstore; his mother, the former Margaret Polson, also worked there. Although slight of build (a physique he would maintain for the rest of his life), he received academic and football scholarships to Tulane University. He played only one year but turned his efforts to running marathons. He also was a skilled pianist and played Dixieland jazz in the French Quarter during his years at Tulane.
Dr. Wilson subsequently attended and graduated from the Tulane Medical School in 1954. Although he started his medical career as a pathology resident, he learned quickly that he wanted to help people and that neurosurgery brought all his interests of neuropathology and the exact nature of surgery together. Following his neurosurgery residency at Tulane, he remained at Tulane until 1961 when he accepted an appointment at Louisiana State University where he won “Best Teacher Award” in 1963. He was then tapped by the University of Kentucky School of Medicine to establish their division of neurosurgery.
In 1968 Dr. Wilson joined UCSF as Professor and Chair of the division of neurosurgery where he practiced for more than 30 years, 28 as chair. He continued the work he started in Kentucky with brain and pituitary tumors, adding an interest in vascular surgery, studying and writing about intracranial aneurysms, avm’s and av-fistulas. He also was involved with encouraging women and underrepresented minorities to enter neurosurgery training. He joined the Western Neurosurgical Society in 1969.
Charlie believed one should not stop learning and in 1996 he earned a master’s degree in Health Administration. Dr. Wilson went on to become the Director of Health Care Group at the Institute for the Future. He made a significant contribution to the publication "The Future of Health and Health Care." Dr. Wilson was also a senior advisor with the Health Technology Center. He served as Consultant to the President of the University of California on health services.
He has received numerous awards and honors and has been the Wilder Penfield Lecturer, the Herbert Olivecrona Lecturer, and the R. Eustace Semmes Lecturer among others. Dr. Wilson also was a CANS Pevehouse Award winner in 1998 and in 2007 received the Cloward Award from the Western. He has published more than 500 articles and chapters and has served on numerous editorial boards, including that of the Journal of Neurosurgery which he chaired from 1981 to 1983.
In 2000 Dr. Wilson cofounded, with the Reverend William Rankin, the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance, an innovative healthcare program in resource short Africa. He also helped set policy and raise money for the Clinic by the Bay organization whose mission is to provide medical services to the uninsured working people in the Bay area.
Dr. Wilson was an accomplished jazz pianist and loved music. He frequently attended the opera and symphony. He was passionate about fitness and was an avid runner, competing in many marathons.
Preceded in death by his son, Craig Wilson, he is survived by his wife of 24 years, Francie Petrocelli; his daughter Rebecca Cohn (Steve); his son Byron Wilson (Suzette); his stepdaughter, Kathryn Petrocelli; his grandchildren Ben, Josh, Brittany, Adam, Ian and Dylan; and a multitude of loving friends and colleagues.
--G. Gerras
Communications Committee
|
|
|
|
(I had hoped that our previous newsletter article on WNS member Jay Levy's losing his home in the 2017 Napa wildfire would be the first and last such notation of such a tragedy befalling one of our own. Alas, not to be. --Ed.)
They couldn’t save our home, but they saved our … Flag!
December 5, 2017, our lives suddenly changed.
In a matter of minutes, the Thomas Fire, the largest and most vicious in the history of the State of California burned our home to the ground. We were not alone to suffer this tragedy: many of our neighbors had the same fate. More than 550 homes were destroyed in our beautiful city, a real devastation of the beautiful little city we call home.
Our family lived at 557 Via Cielito, Ventura CA 93003. We referred to our home as “557”. We still do, even though it no longer exists as a physical structure. We all feel like a part of us died. It was devastating to see the remains.
While waiting to be allowed back to our neighborhood, we kept hearing about the extent of destruction and we saw some images on various media outlets, as well as photos taken by neighbors who refused to leave their homes. We even saw images of our own destroyed home: these images were hard to absorb and comprehend. But, when we were finally allowed to go back, twelve days later, we were shocked to see what used to be homes and cars and beautiful green yards. What used to be our neighborhood. It was surreal. Adding to the surrealism, was a green material that was sprayed by Cal Fire on the destroyed properties; I gather this was to contain hazardous material. I kept thinking that this was a scene from a movie, a horror movie.
The flagpole at 557 is still standing. I knew that our neighbors were keeping our flag for us …
Nothing remained of our home, otherwise. Even our yard was burned. It was a beautiful oasis, where I took photos of roses almost every morning and shared them with my family on an instant message stream that keeps us connected even though we live in different spaces.
How is this possible? We have so many beautiful memories associated with this special place. Two of our daughters were married at 557; I remember every detail. The third got ready for her wedding there. I waited for her in our living room that commanded a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. I remember driving her to her wedding site, on top of a hill overlooking Ventura and the world. That site also burned.
The memories of happy events keep competing in my head. So many. Preparing meals together as a family for family and friends in our kitchen, a kitchen that was the center of our home and one that allowed us to enjoy views of spectacular sunsets, while our grandchildren were running around exploring this corner or that … thinking of this makes my heart smile.
Our artwork, so lovingly collected over the years … is gone. You remember this? You remember that? I find myself asking my wife and individual adult children, or just asking myself. Of course, I do, and I remember the stories that went with each, with a mixture of relish and melancholy.
My books? They are gone. I inherited my passion for collecting books from my father and I am proud to have passed it on to my kids. I had a beautiful collection of leather bound, gold inscribed books of all neurology and neuroscience related topics including the classics. I also lost several first edition, signed manuscripts, including my daughter’s collection of essays and poems that she wrote as a college thesis. Even my trivial collection of logo T-shirts is gone. I used to enjoy buying them to remember an event or a place. At some point this habit got out of hand, and I had a lot of them, so my family put me on a T-shirt buying restriction. Here is a silver lining: the restriction is now lifted.
Everything is gone … but our flag was saved!
In August of 2002, to celebrate being in this amazing country for thirty years, my wife and I decided to build a platform for a flagpole and a flagpole to hold a large American flag that can be seen from far, in front of our home. We wanted it to be very personal, as the flag is very personal to us. On top of the pole stands a star representing the Lone Star of Texas, also a place we call home. The base has five sides, one representing each of our children. We selected a collection of sayings meaningful to us, for each of the sides. We had them inscribed on bronze plaques. The Pledge of Allegiance and Emma Lazarus’ quote about immigrants on one plaque; Why me Lord on another; Amazing Grace on the third; America the Beautiful on the fourth; and a saying by Master Jedi Yoda and one attributed to a slave complete the collection.
We were so proud of this flag …
Almost two years ago, Bill Bays, the secretary of the George S. Patton chapter, the local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, noticed our flag and after discussion with his members, we were awarded a certificate in recognition of an exemplary display of the American Flag. I was deeply honored, particularly since I am an immigrant and a proud American of Syrian birth.
Another group of men noticed our flag on December 5, 2017. A team of fire fighters from the United States Forest Service led by David Lossi were patrolling our street. But I am told they could not do much since they ran out of water. They noticed that our flag was about to burn, and decided to save it. While taking the flag down, a corner actually burned. The Santa Ana winds were very strong and the firefighters put their lives in danger in order to save our beloved flag.
The photo attached was taken by photographer Rob Varela, and was posted on his Instagram account. I saw this for the first time three days before Christmas. At once jarring and beautiful, the image reflects the heroism of our fire fighters.
We plan to raise a new large flag again at 557, hopefully soon; we must wait until power is restored so that the flag can be lit at night. As for what’s next, it is too soon to decide how to rebuild our lives. But we will take it one step at a time, and all the while 557 will remain in our hearts.
--Moustapha Abou-Samra
Ventura
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
