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Today's News |Dubai |
Staff Reporter | Sunday, January 20, 2008
Houston's Texas Medical Center to host first
annual Neuroscience Frontiers conference in Dubai
(Dubai Health & News) The University of Texas M.
D. Anderson Cancer Center and St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, home of the
Texas Heart® Institute, renowned institutions from Houston's Texas
Medical Center in the United States, will host the first Neuroscience
Frontiers Conference in Dubai on Monday, January 21st.
The event will offer a forum for the sharing and exchange of the latest
neuroscience developments and therapies among faculty at both
institutions and leading researchers and clinicians from around the
Middle East, with the ultimate goal of advancing collaboration for the
benefit of patients with disorders such as brain tumors, movement
disorders, and cerebrovascular disease.
"The study and care of patients facing disorders of the central
nervous system is a rapidly advancing and multifaceted field.
Neuroscience Frontiers reinforces our commitment to building upon the
collective depth and breadth of neuroscience programs in the Texas
Medical Center and the Middle East for the benefit of patients
everywhere," said Raymond Sawaya, M.D., professor and chair of the
Department of Neurosurgery at M. D. Anderson.
"We are excited to participate in the launch of Neuroscience
Frontiers in Dubai to promote a greater understanding of medical
conditions that impact the body's nervous system," said Michel E.
Mawad, M.D., Associate Service Chief of Radiology and Director of
Neurovascular Radiology at the NeuroScience Center at St. Luke's
Episcopal Hospital and professor and chair of the Department of
Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine. "By sharing the latest
research and clinical developments among colleagues in the Middle East,
we can improve diagnosis and treatment for all patients afflicted by
such conditions."
M. D. Anderson is renowned for its multidisciplinary approach and
commitment to advancing pioneering cancer research from the laboratory
to patient therapies at the bedside, and is dedicated to the highest
standards of clinical care, prevention and education. The Brain Tumor
Center at M .D. Anderson, a research-based consortium of more than 100
M. D. Anderson scientists and physicians, aims to foster collaboration
across diverse disciplines of basic and clinical science to eliminate
central nervous system tumors as a significant health problem. One of
the largest programs in the world focused solely on brain tumors, the
Brain Tumor Center treats more than 1,000 patients each year.
In July 2006, M. D. Anderson opened BrainSUITE®, a new high-tech
operating room featuring sophisticated imaging technology and surgical
tools that enables neurosurgeons to operate on patients with the most
complicated and life-threatening brain tumors. The 800-square-foot
BrainSUITE® is one of the first fully operational units in the United
States and the only one in the world to feature a wide-bore 1.5 Tesla
intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) scanner to increase the
range of positions in which patients can be operated on. By integrating
into one operating room iMRI, image-guided surgical systems and data
management technologies, BrainSUITE is expected to significantly
decrease undesirable side effects after surgery and a patient's need for
second surgeries.
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital located in Houston, Texas, is a Tertiary
Hospital affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and The University
of Texas Medical School at Houston. The NeuroScience Center at St.
Luke's Episcopal Hospital offers patients multidisciplinary expertise
from renowned interventional neuroradiologists, neurointensivists,
neurologists and neurosurgeons in an award-winning hospital setting.
Designated as a Primary Stroke Center, St. Luke's has also been
recognized by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers in the United
States as a Level IV specialized epilepsy center, providing
comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services for patients with
epilepsy, particularly the more complex forms of intensive
neurodiagnostic monitoring, as well as extensive medical and surgical
evaluation and treatment options.
Recently, St. Luke's announced it was the first hospital in the world to
begin testing the new Artis zeego robotic device, a robot designed and
used to build luxury cars that has been modified to aid physicians, for
research primarily in diagnosing and treating neurological disorders
such as stroke and brain aneurysms. It features a virtually unrestricted
multi-axis C-arm that uses advanced robotic technology for imaging
accuracy and versatility. The unrestricted C-arm is able to reach
positions and additional angles not reachable by traditional C-arm
systems by having a Z rotational axis, in addition to the X and Y
planes. This hybrid imaging technique, producing images of the brain and
surrounding structures, is an added safety measure for the patient
during a neuro-interventional procedure, allowing the physician to see
and analyze the entire affected area.
Guest speakers for the conference include Drs. Sawaya and Mawad who will
be joined by Sujit Prabhu, M.D., assistant professor in the Department
of Neurosurgery, M. D. Anderson; Youssef G. Comair, M.D., F.R.C.S.C.,
Neurosurgery Service Chief, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, and professor
and vice chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of
Medicine; and Basim A. Yaqub, M.D., the head of Neurology and
Neurophysiology at Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Center in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia.
The conference will also present a series of presentations covering the
latest medical advances in
the field of surgical management of malignant brain tumors and skull
base tumors; management of brain metastases; spinal oncology; epilepsy;
and the role of surgery in movement disorders, cerebral aneurysms, and
vascular malformations.
The conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai under the patronage
of H.E. Humaid Mohamed Al
Qutami, Minister of Health, UAE.
Information about Neuroscience Frontiers can be obtained at the conference web
site at: www.neurofrontiers.com.
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The new BrainSUITE® high-tech operating
room at M.D Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
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