INTERNATIONAL ADVISORS & INVITED SPEAKERS

1.	Dr Ulrich Batzdorf, USA Dr Batzdorf completed his neurosurgical residency training at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1966, and has been on the neurosurgical faculty at UCLA since then. His initial research was on malignant brain tumors and pituitary tumors. Concurrently he developed an interest in surgery of the spine and spinal cord, especially in cervical spondylotic myelopathy. For the past 20 years, his major focus has been on syringomyelia and Chiari malformation. Syringomyelia, a multi-authored book that he edited, was published in 1991; Syringomyelia, Current Concepts, co-edited with Tamaki and Nagashima, appeared in 2001. Dr Batzdorf is on the Medical Advisory Board of the American Syringomyelia Alliance Project (ASAP). In 2005, he was recipient of the Meritorious Service Award of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves. He was a founding member and director of the UCLA Joint Orthopaedic-Neurosurgical Comprehensive Spine Center.
2.	Dr Thomas Milhorat, USA Click here for more details
3.	Dr Edward H Oldfield, USA Chief, Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Dr. Oldfield received his M.D. from the University of Kentucky Medical School, training in general surgery and neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University and in neurology at the National Hospital for Nervous Disease, London, England. He leads a laboratory and clinical research effort in neurosurgery at the National Institutes of Health. His interests include brain and pituitary tumors, syringomyelia, the development of new drug delivery techniques for the central nervous system, neural transplantation and regeneration, Von Hippel-Lindau disease, and certain types of vascular disorders of the central nervous system, particularly arteriovenous malformations affecting the spinal cord, dural arteriovenous fistulas, and the pathophysiology and treatment of cerebral vasospasm. In addition to his clinical interests, he has sought to use new information and techniques of basic science to develop new treatment approaches for disorders of the brain and spinal cord. Dr. Oldfield is former chairman of the Editorial Board of the Journal of. In 1995 he was awarded the Grass Medal from the Society of Neurological Surgeons and in 1999 he received the Farber Award of the American Association of Neurology Surgeons.
4.	Dr Jorg Klekamp, Germany Click here for more details
5.	Dr Tatsuya Nagashima, Japan Dr. Nagashima received his M.D. from Kobe University Medical School in 1977, training in neurosurgery at Kobe University and in neurology at Kyushu University. He completed his neurosurgical training in 1984. He was a visiting research fellow at Laboratory of Neurosciences, NIA, NIH (Bethesda) from 1985 to 1987, then was a lecturer in neurosurgery of Kobe University. He was a member of the research committee on Syringomyelia organized by Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 1994-1998. Dr. Tamaki and he organized International Symposium "Syringomyelia 2000" in Kobe. The proceedings of the symposium was published as "Syringomyelia: Current Concept in Pathogenesis and Management" in 2001, co-edited with Dr. Batzdorf. Since June 2001, he has been the Chief of the Department of Neurosurgery, Kobe Children's Hospital and Clinical Professor, Kobe University School of Medicine. His current interest includes syringomyelia of children, spinal dysraphism, pediatric brain tumors and abusive head trauma. He is a member of the research committee on Abusive Head Trauma organized by Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. It is his great pleasure that Dr. Flint timely organize Syringomyelia 2007 in the historic town of Rugby. He believes that the symposium will greatly contribute to the welfare of syringomyelia patients.
6.	Jerry Oakes W Jerry Oakes, MD, professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics at UAB and chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Children's Hospital, has received two recent honors, placing UAB and Children's among the world's top pediatric neurosurgical training institutions. In addition to being chosen as holder of the Dan L. Hendley Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery, he also recently has been named editor-in-chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery, the official journal of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons. Dr. Oakes has served on the journal's editorial board for more than 10 years and has been review editor for the past 4 years. He assumed duties as the journal's fifth editor-in-chief in October. "It is a true honor to have the editorial office for Pediatric Neurosurgery move to Birmingham," says Dr. Oakes. "This not only speaks well for me and the pediatric neurosurgery staff but is a very positive reflection on Children's Hospital and UAB. "We are fortunate to have the strong support of the pediatric community throughout the state, which allows us to attract the case load to keep four full-time neurosurgeons engaged in performing high quality clinical work together with significant investigative effort," Dr. Oakes says. He earned his medical degree from Duke University in 1972 and completed postgraduate studies at Duke University Medical Center, Toronto General Hospital, and in London, England. He served on the Duke faculty prior to joining UAB and is board certified in neurosurgery and pediatric neurosurgery.
7.	Dieter Grob, Switzerland Click here for more details
8.	Alfred Aschoff, Germany Click here for more details
9.	Harold Rekate, USA Click here for more details
10.	Concezio Di Rocco, Italy Click here for more details
11.	Guy Rouleau, Canada Click here for more details
12.	Marcus Stoodley, Australia After completing his medical training at the University of Queensland in Australia, Dr Stoodley went on to train in neurosurgery in Perth and Adelaide. His PhD at the University of Adelaide was awarded for experimental studies of the pathophysiology of syringomyelia. He then undertook fellowship training in neurovascular surgery at the University of Chicago and Stanford University, before returning to Australia to his current position at the University of New South Wales and Prince of Wales Hospital. He continues his clinical and research interest in syringomyelia, with a focus on fluid flow and cellular responses to syrinx formation. Dr Stoodley also has a research interest in the molecular biology of arteriovenous malformations and their response to radiosurgery.
13.	Marek Czosnyka, UK Marek Czosnyka Phd (Warsaw) DSc (Warsaw) in Biomedical Engineering is Reader in Brain Physics and Director of Neurosurgical Physics in Neurosurgical Unit, University of Cambridge, UK. He is also Associate Professor at Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Electronics, Warsaw, Poland. Area of research Cerebrospinal Fluid dynamics (hydrocephalus, BIH, syringomyelia) Cerebral Blood Flow and its regulation (head trauma, stroke, hudrocephalus, subarachnoid hemorrhage, experimental models) Multi-modal bedside monitoring in neuro-intensive care (head trauma, poor grade SAH, stroke), Mathematical modeling of cerebrospinal dynamics Asymmetry of cerebral blood flow, its regulation and cerebrospinal dynamics
14.	Clare Rusbridge, UK Clare Rusbridge BVMS DipECVN MRCVS - European and RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Neurology Clare Rusbridge started her veterinary training age 16 at the University of Glasgow and graduated in 1991. She then enjoyed a year in the USA as a small animal intern at the University of Pennsylvania. She was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend some weeks at North Carolina Veterinary School Neurological department and it was here that she met her future mentor Dr Simon Wheeler. She then spent a year in the “real world” of general small animal practice in Cambridgeshire. In 1993 she joined the Royal Veterinary College, completing a BSAVA/Petsavers residency in Neurology under Simon Wheeler and then spent one year as a Staff Clinician in Neurology. In 1996 she was board-certified by the European College of Veterinary Neurology. Since August 1997 she has operated a neurology referral service at the Stone Lion Veterinary Referral Centre in Wimbledon gaining Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Specialist status in 1999. She came across her first “scratching Cavalier” (Beau) in 1995 when a resident at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. She vowed to the students under her instruction that she would eventually find out why Beau had neuropathic pain. It wasn’t until two years later when spinal MRI was available for animals that she determined that he had syringomyelia secondary to a Chiari-like malformation. It rapidly became apparent that this condition was not as rare as once thought and over the past 10 years Clare continued to research this disease focusing on the genetics, pathogenesis and treatment. She defends a doctoral thesis on canine Chairi-like malformation and syringomyelia at Utretch University in February 2007. Her other professional interests include epilepsy and feline neurology in particular a familial trigeminal neuralgia in Burmese cats.
15.	Hans Frankel
16.	Dr Dominic J Marino Dr Dominic J Marino graduated with honors from Auburn University in Alabama, where he received both his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees. He completed a one-year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Georgia and a three-year comprehensive residency in small animal orthopedic, soft tissue and neurosurgery at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Marino was honored with both the Martin and Beatrice Weiser Outstanding Research Award and the North Shore Animal League Petering Scholarship Award during his residency. He is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and is the former head of Orthopedic/Neurosurgery service at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. Dr Marino has published many scientific articles, and authored chapters in veterinary medical textbooks. He lectures extensively on many surgical topics including soft tissue, orthopedic and neurosurgery. Dr. Marino served as chairman of the Eastern Veterinary Orthopedic Society for several years and is on the National Advisory Board of North Shore Animal League America. He is currently the chairman of the Department of Surgery, and the Chief of Staff at Long Island Veterinary Specialists in Plainview, NY. Dr. Marino serves as the surgical consultant to: The Humane Society of New York, NY; Nassau University Medical Center, Uniondale, NY; North Shore Animal League America, Port Washington, NY; Bide-A-Wee Animal Adoption Center, Wantagh, NY; The Guide Dog Foundation, Smithtown, NY; Sweet Briar Nature Preserve, Smithtown, NY; and is an active executive board member of the Police Surgeons Benevolent Association.
16.	Tony Kember In 1965 after leaving Birmingham College of Art where he studied interior design, Tony Kember started his own business in textile retailing and subsequently textile manufacturing in Bradford, Yorkshire. His current business interests include retailing, building construction and property development. In 1996 Tony’s wife Susan was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation and in 2000 Graham Flint successfully carried out decompression surgery. Tony’s experience with this surgery and his wife’s recovery led to his involvement with The Ann Conroy Trust, a charity set up to help sufferers of Syringomyelia. In 2003 Tony was invited by the Trustees to become Chairman of The Ann Conroy Trust.
17.	Graham Flint, Birmingham A neurosurgeon at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham UK, Graham runs the syringomyelia service established there by the late Bernard Williams. In 2005 he brought together a group of UK based neurosurgeons with an interest in syringomyelia. Graham sees Syringomyelia 2007 as the natural progression of this project, with the assembly of an international group, encompassing a variety of interested disciplines, who can discuss and share their knowledge, understanding and uncertainties about syringomyelia and its related conditions.