On May 5, 2023, the Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences hosted the annual Neuroscience Forum at the Center for Academic Medicine. This event is an opportunity for trainees to display their work. The keynote speaker was Dr. Karl Deisseroth, D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and Psychatriy and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. He discussed the inner workings of channelrhodopsins and nervous systems. There were had 40 poster presentations and 16 oral presentations. Over 100 people attended the event.

We are currently planning the Annual Neuroscience Forum 2024 on May 17th and will have Dr. Sergiu Pasca as our Keynote Speaker. We will begin advertising in early 2024 and accepting abstracts in March 2024. 

The Department of Neurosurgery in partnership with the Office of Diversity in Medical Education (ODME) has launched an initiative to support students applying for Stanford’s Neurosurgery residency program. The initiative will increase access to all resident applicants including those who might be experiencing financial hardships to be able to attend the interviews. 

• Why we are doing this: We strive to provide excellent care to all patients and value all resident applicants. We want to ensure that no one is excluded due to financial hardships. Every applicant that is invited to visit our campus should have the opportunity to do so.
• Who is eligible: All Neurosurgery resident applicants who feel they are unable to accept an in person visit due to financial hardship 
• What is provided: Financial assistance for travel and stay if invited to an in person interview 
• Blinded to committee: All financial hardship applications are confidential to the reviewing committee. Applying for assistance does not play a role in your application process. Your application will only be viewed by individuals who will process your assistance and will not be shared with anyone else.

BFAM:
Dr. Robert Dodd Participates in the Black Faculty Affinity Meetings (BFAM), a group that meets quarterly to allow for a safe space for Black faculty to engage in timely and purposeful dialogue around critical issues affecting physicians of color and continue to make indelible contributions to the Stanford Medical community and beyond. This group fosters opportunities for career mentoring, research collaboration and collective support to retain Black faculty. 

E-4-C:
Dr. Ciara Harraher is working with the E-4-C Program at the Medical School and the MD/GME Diversity Recruitment Committee. She is supporting the planning of a more formalized recruitment approach for increased URM faculty involvement in the program. 

Social Justice and Health Equity CCAP Subcommittee: 
Neurosurgery faculty selected to participate in this formal subcommittee of the Faculty Senate on the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Policy. 

The President's Black Community Council: 
Neurosurgery faculty to serve on President Marc Tessier-Lavigne's Black Community Council

Neurosurgery Staff JEDI-B:
Staff formed this committee in November 2022. They are currently recruiting members and planning events. In honor of Women in Medicine Month, the JEDI-B supported a Women in Neuroscience luncheon in partnership with Dr. Odette Harris and Dr. Reena Thomas.

On October 25th, a dinner event for the African American Faculty Surgeons was hosted by the Departments of Neurosurgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery. This dinner provided a platform for Black faculty members to engage in meaningful dialogues about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). It established a forum where African American surgeons could convene and deliberate on critical issues affecting physicians of color.

Neurosurgery residents, Drs. Lily Kim, John Choi, Rukayat Taiwo, Jonathan (Jon) Lamano, Simon Levinson, Yi Zhang, Joy He, Dhiraj Pangal gathered in early November to build community by participating in a Journal club together to discuss scientific literature and newsworthy developments.

The Department of Neurosurgery participated in a School of Medicine initiative that pairs students from Historically Black Medical Schools with clinical and research opportunities at Stanford in Summer 2023. The REACH HBMC admissions team admitted one student representing Morehouse for Summer 2023. Neurosurgery Faculty member, Dr. Ryann Fame, served as a mentor. This program is an 8-week on campus research experience for HBMC medical students. It’s an opportunity to provide lifelong interactions and collaborations bi-directionally between Stanford Medicine and our HBMC partner institutions. Along with research, the student will participate in residency program director panels, fireside chats, lecture series, and workshops. The program runs from May-July. We hope to continue to participate each Summer. 

On September 26-27, a two-day conference was held to discuss the persistent gaps in clinical research and innovation concerning traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the repercussions of toxic exposures, with a particular emphasis on women's health. This event centered around three themes: First, TBI, where participants delved into understanding sex-based disparities in brain injury symptoms, brain structure, and function. Second, the focus was on gender-specific clinical research opportunities. Third, the conference addressed the diverse range of exposures that impact the health of women veterans. The conference served as a platform for in-depth exploration and collaboration in these critical areas of healthcare.

In September the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) hosted an annual meeting in Washington DC. Many people from our Stanford community attended and presented including but not limited to: Dr. Anand Veeravagu, Dr. Juan Carlos Fernandez- Miranda, Dr. Danny Huang, Dr. Corinna Zygourakis, Dr. Vivek Buch, and Dr. Thomas J. Wilson. Medical Student, Gaby Ruiz Colon was awarded the Neurosurgery CNS paper of the Year Award. This award highlights the collaboration between CNS and Neurosurgery and calls attention to papers that create paradigm shifts and encourage surgeons to rethink approaches to patient care. 

Assistant Professor Dr. Ryann Fame was both an invited speaker and a member of the planning committee for the Hydrocephalus Association Workshop held from September 27 to 29 in Dallas, Texas. The event featured international speakers. Additionally, Arjun Rajan, a graduate student in the Fame Lab specializing in Developmental Biology, received an invitation to attend.

The Fame lab, in collaboration with postdoctoral scholar Luke Liu, has released a new publication titled "Ependymal cells SCOre sweet cerebrospinal fluid." This work is featured in PLOS Biology and contributes to the growing body of research in the field.

The Neurosurgery Diversity Cabinet is growing and we’re happy to share that we added a new member: Dr. Peter Klein. We hosted our last meeting in August 2023. 

• Ongoing mentoring 
• September 2023, a Neurosurgery Faculty member was a guest speaker at the TBI conference. 
• September 2023, there was a Women in Neursocience panel held for the Stanford community to celebrate inclusive excellence in the neurosciences. 
• October 2023, Neurosurgery Faculty members attended the Office of Faculty Developmenet and Diversity (OFDD) retreat.
• October 2023, a Neurosurgery Faculty member was a participant at the Data Integration in Learning Health Care Systems for Traumatic Brain Injury. 
• November 2023, a Neurosurgery Faculty member was a Guest Speaker at HOSA (Health Care Occupations Students of America) Chapter at Menlo High School

AANS Diversity Task Force led by Dr. Aviva Abosch was transitioned to a formal AANS committee. This is a clear reflection of the AANS Board’s staunch belief of on-going work, and its strategic alignment with the mission of the AANS.

February 2022, a Diversity webpage was created to highlight the faces of US neurosurgery that are working to ensure diverse profession with equal opportunities for all trainees and neurosurgeons. Stanford Neurosurgery is key to this initiative. 

In October our pipeline programs were featured in the Making and Maintaining a Neurosurgeon series of the Washingington Committee Neurosurgery Blog. We were included in the “Opening the field to others, recruiting diversity” section. 

California Association of Neurological Surgeons (CANS) newly elected positions:

The Departments of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences hosted the High School Neuroscience Forum on April 29, 2023. We received over 80 submissions from students around the world, including Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico, Canada, Macedonia, Nigeria, China, Poland, and India, and seventeen different states!

Nine student presenters shared their research pertaining to neuroscience. More than 100 students attended. Our keynote presentations were from Dr. Helen Bronte-Stewart and Dr. Vivek Buch. Following the forum, 20 additional students shared their neuroscience projects and received feedback from Stanford Neuroscientists, Dr. Maheen Adamson and Dr. Sherry Beaudreau. We are looking forward to hosting this Event again in 2024 and are currently in the planning stages with the student leaders.

The “I am a Neurosurgeon/ Neuroscientist” project was recently launched, focusing on inspiring future neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, and more. The goal of this project is to break stereotypes, provide real-world insights into science, and offer practical resources to students. While also showcasing the diversity within STE(A)M fields and various career paths. Currently, interviews are being conducted to create personalized posters for faculty members, making STE(A)M careers accessible to all students.