Sonntag International Fellowship - $5000

The Sonntag International Fellowship sponsored by AANS/CNS Joint Section on the Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves is awarded annually to a neurosurgical resident or neurosurgeon from outside of the U.S. or Canada to provide supplemental funding for advanced education and research in disorders of the spine in the form of a fellowship experience in the United States or Canada. The amount of each award is $5,000. Applicants must provide a letter of acceptance from the designated mentor and program, a letter of support from their training program director if applicable, a description of the proposed fellowship with the educational or research goals, and a current CV.

Previous Recipients

Year	Name	Description	Location
2012	Olaolu Charles Akinbo, MBBS	Olaolu Charles Akinbo, MBBS, received his medical training at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria where he obtained Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degrees (MBBS) in 1998. His residency training in Neurosurgery was at the Department of Neurological Surgery, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. During his residency, Dr. Akinbo conducted research on the Epidemiology of Neurotrauma and Motorcycle Head Injury under the supervision of Professors M.T. Shokunbi and A.O. Malomo. His interest in spine surgery developed during this time as well. The Sonntag International Fellowship award will enable Dr. Akinbo plans to hone his skills further in general and complex spinal surgeries under Dr. Praveen V. Mummaneni at the University of California, San Francisco.	University of California, San Francisco
2011	Gurpreet Singh Gandhoke, MD	Gurpreet Singh Gandhoke, MD, completed his medical school training at the Pune University in India and completed a three year residency training in general surgery from the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College. He then went on to complete his neurosurgery residency training at the King George’s Medical University in India where he won the gold medal for being the best outgoing student during both his residency training programs. Dr. Gandhoke is now looking forward to expand his skills in treating spinal disorders by pursuing a Fellowship with Dr. Praveen V. Mummaneni at the University of California, San Francisco.	University of California, San Francisco
2010	Payman Vahedi, MD	Dr. Vahedi is the Chief Resident of Neurosurgery at the Iman Hospital in Tabriz, Iran where he began his residency in 2005. He received his MD from Mashad Medical School in Mashad, Iran as one of the top 10% of the students. His 18-month internship included rotations at Qaem, Imam Reza, Ibn Sina, and Emdadi teaching Hospitals, Mashad University of Medical Sciences, Mashad, Iran. At Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Dr.Vahedi was named Distinguished Best Postgraduate Researcher in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and Distinguished Best Young Researcher in 2009. Dr. Vahedi will pursue his fellowship training with Dr. Peter C. Gerszten at the University of Pittsburgh.	Iman Hospital
2009	Jau-Ching Wu, MD	Dr. Wu received his medical degree from the National Yang Ming University School of Medicine in Taiwan in 2001. He then completed his neurosurgery training at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in 2007. In 2008, he completed a spinal surgery fellowship at the Taipei Veteran's General Hospital and then joined the attending staff of this organization, the largest training hospital in Taiwan with over 3,000 beds. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. at the National Yang Ming University School of Medicine. Dr. Wu has also been involved in human clinical trials directed by Dr. Henrich Cheng to repair spinal cord injuries using peripheral nerve grafts with fibroblast growth factors. Dr. Wu has great interest in new concepts in spinal surgery, including minimally invasive and motion preservation procedures; he is therefore looking forward to the fellowship with Dr. Praveen Mummaneni as well as other outstanding spinal surgeons at UCSF Spine Center.	Taipei Veteran's General Hospital
2009	Ramesh Teegala, MBBS, MCh	Dr. Ramesh Teegala received his MBBS and Master of Surgery (General Surgery) Degrees form Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, VARANASI, one of the premium medical institutions of India. He then completed his Neurosurgical residency (MCh) from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. After obtaining his MCh degree he worked as senior research fellow at AIIMS and subsequently joined as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi. During this period he mainly concentrated on complex spine and skull base surgeries. He worked as a co investigator of one national and an international clinical trial. Currently he took charge of establishing a neurosurgical department at a medical school in Andhra Pradesh. He is actively doing minimal invasive neurosurgical procedures. He has a visiting surgeon’s fellowship with Prof. Gaab, Hanover, Germany to acquire additional skills of neuroendoscopy. He is trying hard to develop his career in minimal invasive and functional neurosurgery. During this period he has operated nearly 1500 neurosurgical procedures independently and presented at many national and international conferences. He has 8 national and international publications to his credit.	Medical school in Andhra Pradesh