Columbus 2025
David D. Limbrick Jr., MD PhD
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Virginia Commonwealth University
Director, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital of Richmond
Scientific Keynote Lecture Title: TBA
Mr. Joe Blundo
Columnist Emeritus, The Columbus Dispatch
Author, Does That Make Sense? The Best of Joe Blundo
Welburn Lecture: The English Language: A Joyous Mess
Stephen Kern, PhD
Humanities Distinguished Professor of History, The Ohio State University
Former Distinguished Research Professor, Northern Illinois University
Recipient, Ohio Academy of History Distinguished Historian Award
Title: Historical Background to Modern Neuroscience
Bonnie L. Blazer-Yost, PhD, FAPS
Professor of Biology, Indiana University Indianapolis
Director, Hydrocephalus Research Center
Lecture Title: Modulation of TRPV4 in Animal Models of Hydrocephalus
Peter A. Chiarelli, MD DPhil
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Southern California
Attending Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)
Director, CHLA CSF Flow Dynamics Group (CFDG)
Director of Neurosurgical Education and Research, CHLA
Lecture Title: Investigation of CSF Flow Dynamics for Improved Hydrocephalus Management
James P. (Pat) McAllister II, PhD
Professor and Vice Chair for Neurosurgery Research, Virginia Commonwealth University
Emeritus Professor of Neurosurgery, Washington University in St. Louis
Lecture Title: Animal Models of Hydrocephalus: An Engineering Perspective
Richard H. Finnell, PhD
Professor, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Medicine, and Molecular and Human Genetics
Lecture Title: The Biology of Neural Tube Defects: From Prevention Efforts to Stem Cell Therapeutics
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
Steven Hwang, MD
Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Shriners Children’s – Philadelphia
Board Member, North American Spine Society & Scoliosis Research Society
Lecture Title: Tethered Cord and 3-Column Osteotomies
Raudel Avida, PhD
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
Director, Computational Mechanics and Bioelectromagnetic Laboratory
Lecture Title: Engineering Modeling insights for Hydrocephalus – from Biomechanics to Skin-like Devices
June Goto, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Cincinnati
Principal Investigator, Mangano/Goto Laboratory, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Lecture Title: Targeting Microglia and the Choroid Plexus: Preclinical Insights into Therapies for Neonatal Hydrocephalus
Prof. Andrew Copp, MBBS DPhil FRCPath FMedSci
Glaxo-Wellcome Professor of Developmental Neurobiology
University College London, Institute of Child Health
Lecture Title: Chiari II brain malformation: determining its relationship to spina bifida
Jay Riva-Cambrin, MD MSc. FRCSC
Professor of Neurosurgery, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Director, Neurosurgery Residency Program
Kinsmen Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Lecture Title: Collaboration through a Multicentered Approach: The Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network as a Case Study
Ms. Dianne Kean
Parent Advocate
Lecture Title: TBA
Jamie Wright, MD PhD
Patient Perspective
Vision 2030 Moderator
Lecture Title: TBA