Bermans Iskandar

Bermans Iskandar, MD

Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Director, Pediatric Neurosurgery, American Family Children’s Hospital
Past Chair, American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery
Past Chair, AANS/CNS Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery

Lecture Title: The University of Wisconsin P.A.S.T.U.R.E.S. Program: Preclinical Advancements in Spina Bifida Treatment Using Research in Experimental Sheep

Dr. Bermans Iskandar is Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine and Public Health. He serves as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at UW and the American Family Children’s Hospital, Director of the CNS Regeneration Laboratory, and Director of the Wisconsin Hydrocephalus Group. He is board-certified in neurological surgery and pediatric neurosurgery, and is recognized for his expertise in hydrocephalus, spina bifida, Chiari malformations, and other congenital disorders affecting CSF hydrodynamics.

His clinical research has focused on developing safer and more effective imaging strategies in pediatric neurosurgery. He co-developed “Quick-Brain MRI,” a fast, radiation-free protocol that has become a standard for evaluating shunted children. His collaboration with radiology and medical physics has refined voxel-level CSF flow analysis at the foramen magnum, improving diagnosis and surgical planning in Chiari malformation. Currently, Dr. Iskandar leads the Wisconsin Hydrocephalus Group (WHP), a funded multidisciplinary research initiative that brings together engineers, physicists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons to investigate the causes of shunt malfunction and to optimize CSF diversion technologies. WHP research led to the recognition of overdrainage as a driver of proximal shunt obstruction, and the design of a smart shunt system that gave rise to the spin-off company Madison Scientific, Inc.

Dr. Iskandar’s translational research laboratory, funded by the NIH and March of Dimes, has uncovered how folate metabolism influences DNA methylation and axonal regeneration—work that has established an epigenetic framework for central nervous system repair, and shown one of the first examples of transgenerational inheritance of regenerative traits in response to a beneficial intervention.

Most recently, Dr. Iskandar has taken scientific leadership of a naturally occurring, heritable spina bifida model in sheep. This large-animal model closely mimics human myelomeningocele, including associated hindbrain herniation and hydrocephalus, and provides a platform for testing fetal repair strategies with greater clinical relevance than traditional induced models.

Dr. Iskandar has authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, edited one textbook, and currently serves as Co-Editor of the Congenital Disorders Section of the ISPN Guide to Pediatric Neurosurgery. He has delivered invited lectures across the U.S. and internationally, including as the 2015 Van Wagenen Lecturer at the AANS Annual Scientific Meeting. His national leadership roles include serving as Chair of both the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery and the AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery.

Dr. Iskandar earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, completed neurosurgical residency at Duke University Medical Center, and fellowship training in pediatric neurosurgery at the Children’s of Alabama.