UAB Department of Neurosurgery Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery’s Jeffrey Blount, M.D., MPH, Brandon Rocque, M.D., and Andrew Hale, M.D., Ph.D., recently attended the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN) 48th Annual Meeting in Singapore.

 
The ISPN seeks to promote the health of children throughout the world by encouraging the ethical transmission and exchange of neuroscientific information and techniques related to pediatric neurosurgery.
 
Blount, who serves as co-chair of the ISPN Education Committee, participated in delivering a four-part presentation discussing the research on folic acid fortification and the mission of the Global Alliance for the Prevention of Spina Bifida F (GAPSBiF), an organization in which he co-founded. 
 
Prior to Blount’s presentation, ISPN President Rick Boop, M.D., delivered a presidential address on the burden of pediatric diseases and the work being done by GAPSBiF as part one of the four-part presentation. 
 
As part two, Clinical Professor at the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Costa Rica and Director of the Brain Tumor Clinic at the National Children’s Hospital of Costa Rica Adrian Caceres, M.D., presented on the decreased prevalence and severity of neural tube defects (NTDs) in Costa Rica due to the folic acid fortification of food.
 
Pediatric Neurosurgeon at the Santa Fe de Bogota Foundation and translational scientist at the University of La Sabana in Columbia, Kemel Ghotme, M.D., Ph.D., spoke on his work in with the Columbian Ministry of Health and their initiative to introduce and sponsor the World Health Organization (WHO) resolution for world-wide folic acid fortification.
 
Rocque presented as the first author of a study by the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network, “Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in previously shunt-treated patients,” where he discussed ETV as an option for the treatment of hydrocephalus. 
 
Hale, a UAB Department of Neurosurgery resident, presented his abstract, “Genetically-determined alterations in inflammation and infection-associated genes cause hydrocephalus in patients of African ancestry,” during the meeting’s Top Abstracts session. 
 
The ISPN Annual Meeting is the venue for the exchange of scientific and medical information among pediatric neurosurgeons and research scientists for advancing the care of children with neurosurgical diseases and disorders.