Skip to main content

The neurosurgery residency program at Geisinger on Oct. 2 held its Henry Hood Research Day, during which the program’s seven residents had the opportunity to showcase their scholarship.

It is the second year the program has hosted a research day. The intent is to hold it annually.

“Academic activity is a critical component of neurosurgery residency training at Geisinger,” said Christoph J. Griessenauer, MD, FAANS, FACS, director of vascular and endovascular neurosurgery at Geisinger Medical Center and an associate professor of neurosurgery. “Besides training our residents to become safe and sound clinical neurosurgeons, we also want to foster their skills as clinician scientists. The resident research day is the ideal opportunity for each resident to present their best academic work of the prior year.”

Invited guests James Harrop, MD, chief, Division of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery at Jefferson University Hospitals and Brandon Fornwalt, MD, associate professor and director of the Cardiac Imaging Technology Laboratory at Geisinger, scored each presentation. Dr. Harrop also delivered a lecture entitled, Spinal Cord Injury: Trial and Tribulations: What Should we Expect in the Future? to start the event. Then, each resident delivered a short discussion of one of their research projects.

The residents’ scores were combined and averaged. Top score was to receive a $250 prize, but the judges found a tie, so the 2020 prize was bestowed upon both Sheela Vivekanandan, MD and Nelson Sofoluke, MD, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s MD Class of 2017 and MBS Class of 2013.

Dr. Vivekanandan’s research was entitled Anticoagulant medications and operative subdural hematomas: A retrospective cohort study evaluating reoperation rates. Dr. Sofoluke presented Genome-wide association analysis across 16,956 patients identifies a novel genetic association between BMP6 and spondylosis.

The other presenters were:

  • Cameron Brimley, MD, presenting Central and peripheral nervous system radiographic changes associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
  • Reginald Fong, MD, presenting Limited utility of 5-ALA optical fluorescence in endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery; a multicenter retrospective study.
  • Alejandro Bugarini, MD, presenting Perioperative continuous non-invasive arterial pressure monitoring for neuro-endovascular interventions: Prospective study for the evaluation of the vascular unloading technique.
  • Christian Bohan, MD, a member of GCSOM’s MD Class of 2019, presenting Validation of R2eD AVM score to predict likelihood of rupture presentation of brain AVMs in Geisinger patient population.
  • Ali Tafreshi, MD, presenting Prefrontal cortex regulation of nigral DA and non-DA neurons: an in vivo optogenetics study in rats.
Neurosurgery Residency Henry Hood Research Day - Oct. 2020
Seen from left are neurosurgical residents Christian Bohan, MD, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s (GCSOM) MD Class of 2019; Alejandro Bugarini, MD; and Ali Tafreshi, MD; Gregory Weiner, MD, Geisinger neurosurgeon; neurosurgical residents Reginald Fong, MD; research day award-winner Nelson Sofoluke, MD, a member of GCSOM’s MD Class of 2017 and MBS Class of 2013; Christoph J. Griessenauer, MD, FAANS, FACS, director of vascular and endovascular neurosurgery at Geisinger Medical Center and an associate professor of neurosurgery and Brandon Fornwalt, MD, associate professor and director of the Cardiac Imaging Technology Laboratory at Geisinger; William Bird, a member of GCSOM’s MD Class of 2021; and Sarah Kline, GME program administrator, Neurosurgery Residency Program. Not seen research day co-winner, Sheela Vivekanandan, MD and neurosurgical resident, Cameron Brimley, MD.