The Tumor Section Awards Committee is happy to report the addition of 14 new awards (summarized below) to be given at the AANS Annual Scientific Meeting and CNS Annual Meeting. In addition, two high-scoring NREF research proposals were awarded new grants by the Tumor Section in partnership with the brain tumor nonprofit organizations, Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation (SBTF) and StacheStrong, for the 2020-2021 academic year. The SBTF is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for brain tumor patients and their families and to raise funds for brain tumor research so that a cure can be found. StacheStrong is a 501(c)3 not for profit charity focused on raising funds and awareness for brain cancer research. Both of these nonprofits have committed to funding high-scoring NREF proposals on behalf of the Tumor Section moving forward. In addition, they have also committed to new Tumor Section awards at the CNS and AANS annual meetings. Despite the difficult year with the pandemic, the section is very grateful for the support from industry and nonprofit partners. These new grants and awards will continue to foster support for outstanding brain tumor research by neurosurgeon-scientists.
Two New Grants Funded on Behalf of the Tumor Section
Dr. Sophie Peters, a neurosurgery resident at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), was awarded the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation and NREF Research Grant on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors for her proposal entitled “Neoantigens arising from alternative pre-mRNA splicing may be targeted by tumor-specific T lymphocytes in histone H3.3 G34R mutant pediatric GBM.” Her research mentors are Drs. Anthony Wang and Linda Liau from the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery.
Dr. Brandyn Castro, a neurosurgery resident from the University of Chicago, was awarded the StacheStrong Foundation and NREF Research Grant on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors for her proposal entitled “Developing a patient-derived B-cell-based vaccine, a novel therapeutic agent for glioblastomas.” She will be completing her research at Northwestern University under the mentorship of Dr. Maciej Lesniak.
14 New Tumor Section Awards and New Named Award
The award formerly known as the Leksell Award will now be named the Lunsford and Leksell Radiosurgery Award. This award will honor Dr. L. Dade Lunsford, who pioneered and developed stereotactic radiosurgery as an established treatment modality for central nervous system tumors. The NREF Lunsford Honor Your Mentor fund is now able to support this award with additional funds provided by Elekta and members of our Tumor Section. The 14 new awards for our Tumor Section are summarized below:
- The Synaptive Preuss Award will be granted at the AANS and CNS meetings to a high scoring basic or clinical abstract related to brain tumors for a total of $1,000.
- The National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) Award for $1,000 at the AANS and CNS meetings.
- The Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation (SBTF) Award for $1,000 to be given at the AANS and CNS meetings.
- The StacheStrong Glioblastoma Award for $500 to be given at the AANS and CNS meetings.
- The Stryker CNS Tumor Award for $1,000 to be given at the AANS and CNS meetings.
- The Zeiss Brain Tumor Award for $1,000 to be given at the AANS and CNS meetings.
- The Mizuho Minimally Invasive Brain Tumor Surgery Award for $1,000 to be given at the AANS and CNS meetings.
The Awards Committee is actively working with new industry partners to establish more awards for our Tumor Section. The goal of the Awards Committee is to have full support for all our awards granted by the Tumor Section. Stay tuned!
Tumor Section Award Recipients for CNS 2020
While we did not hold the CNS 2020 annual meeting or the Tumor Section Satellite Symposium in Miami this year due to the pandemic, awards were still granted by the Tumor Section for the highest scoring abstracts. A total of eight awards were granted for CNS 2020 and 18 awards for the Tumor Section Satellite Symposium. Congratulations to each winner! The link to the Tumor Section Awards website page is https://www.tumorsection.org/research-awards/.
2020 Tumor Section Satellite Symposia Awards
Award | Title | Recipient |
Glioma Gold | Molecular Characteristics and Clinical Features of Multifocal Glioblastoma | Antonio Dono |
Glioma Silver | Diffuse astrocytic glioma, IDH-wildtype, with molecular features of glioblastoma: differentiating factors from low-grade diffuse astrocytomas | Orin Bloch |
Glioma Bronze | Magnetic Resonance-Guided Laser Induced Thermal Therapy in the Posterior Fossa: A Multi-Institutional Series | Omar Ashraf |
Meningioma Gold | Intracranial Meningiomas in Elderly Patients (≥ 65 years): A Minimally Invasive Surgical Experience – Outcomes, Readmissions and Tumor Control | Jai Thakur |
Meningioma silver | Supraorbital keyhole craniotomy with orbital roof osteotomy through an eyebrow incision for resection of anterior clinoid and tuberculum sellae meningiomas: tumor control and visual outcomes | Robert Riestenberg |
Peds Gold | Photodynamic therapy of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma in combination with radiation | Georgios Skandalakis |
Skull Base Gold | Effect of vestibular schwannoma size and nerve of origin on posterior external auditory canal sensation: A prospective observational study. | Gautum Mehta |
Skull Base Silver | Consensus Statement on Sporadic Vestibular Schwannoma: A Modified Delphi Study | Michael Link |
Skull Base Bronze | Corticotroph Hyperplasia and Cushing’s Disease – Diagnostic Features and Surgical Management | Michael Catalino |
Spine Gold | Relationship between race and survival rates of spinal astrocytoma patients: a 20-year observational study using the SEER database | Kyle McGrath |
Spine Silver | Evolving Practice Patterns and Outcomes in the Management of Spinal Metastases: Opportunities for Improving Care in the Community Setting. | Asad Lak |
Spine Bronze | Dural cytokines increase growth and migration of prostate cancer cells through a CXCR2 mediated pathway | Nicholas Szerlip |
SRS Gold | Long-term Efficacy of Two-staged Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Large Brain Metastases: International Multicenter Study | Lilyana Angelov |
SRS Silver | Two-staged Stereotactic Radiosurgery for the Treatment of Large Brain Metastases | Elizabeth Ginalis |
Socioeconomic Gold | The Impact of the Socioeconomic “Distressed Communities Index” on Glioblastoma Management | Christian Lopez Ramos |
Basic Science Gold | Investigation of the Tumoricidal Effects of Sonodynamic Therapy in Gliomas and other Malignant Brain Tumors | Jason Sheehan |
Basic Science Silver | Macrophages Programmed to Secrete Interleukin-12 Induce an Anti-Tumor Immune Response within Glioblastoma | Chibawanye Ene |
Basic Science Bronze | Glioma Induced Alterations in Fecal Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Neurotransmitters | Yoshua Esquenazi |
2020 CNS Tumor Section Awards
Award | Title | Recipient |
CNS Best Basic Science Award | Novel Gene Fusions in Glioma Tumor Tissue and Matched Patient Plasma | Anudeep Yekula |
CNS Best Clinical Research Award | International Tuberculum Sellae Meningioma Study: Surgical Outcomes and Management Trends | Stephen T Magill |
CNS Best Operative Technique Award | First-in-Human Intraoperative MRI Coil for High Resolution Imaging during Transsphenoidal Surgery | Elizabeth Hogan |
2020 CNS Tumor Section Awards
Award | Title | Recipient |
BrainLab Neurosurgery Award | Improvement of T2-FLAIR mismatch sign detectability for IDHmt/nonCODEL astrocytomas by shortening the inversion time in FLAIR acquisition | Manabu Kinoshita |
Integra Foundation Award | Clinical and Genomic Factors Associated with Seizures in Meningiomas | Trisha Gupte |
Journal of Neuro-Oncology Award | The Role of Human Endothelial Cells in The Brain Tumour Organoid (BTO) Platform as a Unique Tool in Discovery of Novel Treatment Approaches in Glioblastoma | Dorota Lubanska |
Rosenblum – Mahaley Clinical Research Award | Enhanced Fiber Tractography in Glioblastoma using a Novel Edema Correction Algorithm Correlated with Direct Intraoperative Electrical Stimulation and fMRI | Fraser Henderson |
Synaptive Preuss Award | Dendritic cell vaccination is effective against H3.3G34R mutant glioblastoma in a novel syngeneic genetically engineered mouse model | Sophie Peters |
AANS/CNS Joint Section Tumor Neuro-Oncology Trainee Award | Peritumoral Edema Correlates with Mutational Burden in Meningiomas | Corey M Gill |
James Rutka Pediatric Brain Tumor Award | Preclinical Efficacy of the Antiviral Drug Ribavirin in SHH and Group 3 Medulloblastoma | Sakibul Huq |
Lunsford and Leksell Radiosurgery Award | Stereotactic radiosurgery as the first line treatment for intracanalicular vestibular schwannomas | Akiyoshi Ogino |