TRANSFORMATION AND CELEBRATION
The 67th Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons
October 7-11, 2017
Boston, Massachusetts
The 2017 CNS Annual Meeting was the culmination of a year of exciting expansion across the CNS. Bringing together members, faculty, volunteers, staff, and industry partners, the meeting reinvented the process of providing innovative, inclusive, and relevant education to members. Standout experiences included a focus on the future of medicine, and the use of virtual reality to augment surgical practice. The new CNS Central and Xperience Lounge provided dedicated spaces for members to see brilliant new technologies, interact with peers, and have their questions answered by CNS staff.
Annual Meeting Highlights
- An unprecedented Guinness Book world record attempt for most concurrent participants in a neurosurgical 360º virtual reality experience.
- The launch of Nexus, CNS' new case-based repository of neurosurgical operative techniques and approaches, was introduced during the Tuesday general session.
- The launch of the CNS Guidelines app, which makes official CNS-produced guidelines more accessible.
- The CNS introduced a refreshed Journal Club delivered in podcast form. Inaugural podcasts included conversations with the award-winning authors of Neurosurgery's Paper of the Year.
- CNS Central: Starting early Saturday morning, members gathered at CNS' new service hub to catch up with colleagues, try out the latest online educational offerings, and chat with our membership team about their benefits.
- The centerpiece of the Exhibit Hall, the CNS Xperience Lounge, drew crowds to hear presentations from Innovation of the Year nominees and Paper of the Year authors, meet our guest speakers, and get their hands on innovative technologies that are changing neurosurgical training and practice.
Annual Meeting by the Numbers
The CNS Annual Meeting serves as a hub for scientific exchange, educational courses, symposia, and technology.
- Over 28,098.5 CME credits were claimed as a result of Annual Meeting attendance
- There were 2,563 medical registrants in attendance
- Over 338 international attendees attended (not including Canada or Mexico)
- 12 CNS US Active Duty Military members took advantage of CNS special benefits such as complimentary registration and free housing
- 47 CNS Resident members received free housing
- 38 Affiliates hosted their event during the Annual Meeting
- The CNS Oral Board Exam Preparation Review Course drew 83 participants
2017 CNS Annual Meeting Honored Guest and Distinguished Honorees
CNS Honored Guest
Alan R. Cohen, MD, FACS, FAAP
CNS Distinguished Service Award Winner
Richard Ellenbogen, MD
CNS Founder's Laurel Award Winner
Steven L. Giannotta, MD
2017 Innovator of the Year
New this year, the Innovator of the Year award was created to recognize new technologies, techniques, and other contributions of CNS members and corporate partners to improve the field of neurosurgery. After an open call for submissions, 32 proposals were vetted by the selection committee and three finalists were selected to present their innovations in the CNS Xperience Lounge on Monday, October 9. Annual Meeting attendees then voted on the top Innovator of the Year. The winner, Dr. Daniel A. Orringer, was announced during the Wednesday general session.
Innovator of the Year
Rapid Intraoperative Diagnosis through Stimulated Raman Histology
David A. Orringer
Top 3 Finalists
The Smart Shunt: A Novel Shunt Catheter that Can Measure Pressure
Carrie R. Muh
Site-specific, Extended Release Drug Delivery System
R. Loch Macdonald
The Residency Program Abstract Competition is a convivial competition that brought submissions from neurosurgical residency programs around the world. The 2017 winners are:
- First Place - University of California, San Francisco: 34 accepted abstracts
- Second Place - Vanderbilt University Medical Center: 31 accepted abstracts
- Third Place - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: 26 accepted abstracts
2017 Abstract Awards
The Annual Meeting abstract program attracted 1,489 submissions, and continues to be an exceptional point of pride for authors, researchers, and residency programs. Abstracts were presented through oral presentations, rapid-exchange sessions, and poster presentations.
Ananth K. Vellimana
CNS Resident Award
Tareq A. Juratli
National Brain Tumor Society Mahaley Clinical Research Award
Jian Guan
Julius Goodman Resident Award
Arka Mallela
American Brain Tumor Association Young Investigator Award
Hongwei Zhang
Columbia Softball Pediatric Brain Tumor Award
Matthew Garrett
Preuss Award
Matthew Agam
Integra Foundation Award
Suganth Suppiah
Stryker Neuro-Oncology Award
Derek W. Yecies
Sherry Apple Resident Travel Scholarship
Robert Y. North
Ronald R. Tasker Young Investigator Award
Jizong Zhao
Galbraith Award
Adomas Bunevicius
Brainlab Neurosurgery Award
Sumeet Vadera
Samuel Hassenbusch Young Neurosurgeon Award
Benjamin L. Grannan
Stereotactic And Functional Neurosurgery Resident Award
Jason K. Karimy
Joint AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section Abstract Award
Fahad A. Alkherayf
Synthes Skull Base Surgery Award
Desmond A. Brown
Journal Of Neuro-Oncology Award
Qiang Yuan
Think First Injury Prevention Research Award
The 2017 SANS Challenge
Forty residency programs participated in the official 2017 SANS Challenge, and 12 teams qualified for the live event in Boston. The SANS Challenge champions are:
- First place - Ohio State University, Jeffrey Hatef and Ammar Shaikhouni
- Second Place - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Gurpreet Gandhoke and Ezequiel Goldschmidt
- Third Place - Mayo Medical Clinic, Ross Puffer and Ben Himes
2017 Neurosurgery Paper of the Year Award Recipients
The Paper of the Year Awards identified and honored the most impactful papers published in Neurosurgery from June 2016-June 2017. Winning papers challenged dogma, created a paradigm shift, and got surgeons rethinking approaches to patient care, big data, and trial results.
Paper of the Year:
Tibor Becske
Paper of the Year, Runner-up:
Justin Smith, International Spine Study Group
Paper of the Year: Section Level
Cerebrovascular Paper of the Year: Harley Brito da Silva & Laligam Sekhar
Neurotrauma & Critical Care: Arminas Ragauskas
Pain: Leonardo Kapural
Pediatrics: Diego M. Morales
Socioeconomic: Stephen Honeybul
Spine & Peripheral Nerve: Roger Hartl
Stereotactic & Functional: John Corrigan
Tumor Paper of the Year: Yasuo Iwadate
The CNS welcomed its 2017 International Partner, the Neurological Society of India
