On Monday, March 7th, Martín Andrés Merenzon of Buenos Aires, Argentina (pictured far right) began his three-month observership at the University of Miami in the division of surgical neurooncology. He joins the Miami Brain Tumor team led by Ricardo Komotar and Michael Ivan and will work side-by-side with Alexis Morell, the first winner of the CNS Foundation Tumor Observership at Miami University. The rotation focuses on all tumors of the central nervous, with participation in clinic, conferences, surgery, and consultations
CNSF: What has your first week been like, working in Miami with Dr. Komotar, Dr. Ivan and the team?
Dr. Merezon: I got the chance to observe more than fifteen brain tumor surgeries last week (including awake surgeries and tailor-made surgical techniques used here such as the minimally invasive keyhole temporal lobectomy approach), to participate in clinic consults, and to attend to the Department’s grand rounds. Also, I started to get to know the different research projects that they are working on. I found especially interesting Dr. Ivan’s augmented reality project. Finally, I had the chance to see a couple of patients treated with Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy. This Neurosurgery Department is a world leader in this advanced surgical procedure. As this cutting-edge treatment is not available in my country, I’m trying to learn all about it.
CNSF: Do you have a mentor or an experience that first gave you the idea to pursue neurosurgery?
MM: the life-changing experience that guided me to choose Neurosurgery was doing a sub-internship in the Neurosurgery Department at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 2013. This was part of an exchange program with Yale University to which I applied among other Argentinean students and for which I won a scholarship from the University of Buenos Aires. I’ll always be grateful for that amazing opportunity. I recall a patient that came in through the E.D. department with sudden altered mental status due to a cerebellar hematoma. I was shadowing the on-call resident that night, so I got to participate in the surgery with the chief of residents and the attending. Due to the size of the hematoma, if the patient was not surgically treated, she was going to die. Fortunately, the surgery was successful. I saw the patient being discharged cured a few days later with her family. I knew at that moment that I wanted to learn how to save a life as it had happened that night.
CNSF: How do you choose to relax and unwind?
As I’m passionate about my work, I have very little free time and when I do, I try to be with my family as much as I can. (He and his wife Solange, a Dermatologist, had a small family wedding during the COVID pandemic.) However, I find a way to have some moments during the week where I can play the guitar and learn how to play the songs of my favorite guitar players, such as Eric Clapton. I also enjoy playing tennis. Finally, I like reading about the history of the world analyzed by scholars such as Yuval Noah Harari, Steven Pinker, and Samuel Huntington.
The CNS Foundation is grateful to the TransAtlantic Education Foundation for making this Observership possible for the third year.
Would you like to support international neurosurgeons like Dr. Merenzon? Thoughtful gifts of any size make a difference to neurosurgeons around the world. Please visit foundation.cns.org/donate to support more of these valuable experiences!
To learn more about the CNS Foundation, its grants and awards for 2022, please visit foundation.cns.org or email the Director, Courtney Johnson, cjohnson@cns.org.