Alex B Valadka has been named president elect of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). His appointment was announced during the 84th AANS Annual Scientific Meeting held in Chicago, April 30-May 4, 2016.
In addition to Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Valadka is also a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) and, most recently, served as the AANS Treasurer. He has also served as chair of the Washington Committee for Neurosurgery. Prior to joining VCU, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of the Seton Brain and Spine Institute in Austin, Texas; the largest and most comprehensive neuroscience program in Central Texas.
Valadka has a strong clinical and research interest in neurotrauma and critical care, as evidenced by his research funding and publications. He has been an investigator and co-investigator on 18 research grants, including serving as initiating investigator on a US$33.7-million Department of Defense research consortium on mild traumatic brain injury. He is author or co-author on more than a hundred scientific papers, as well as dozens of book chapters. He co-edited the textbook Neurotrauma: Evidence-based Answers to Common Questions.
“The way we deliver health care is changing very rapidly,” says Valadka. “Too much emphasis is being placed on cutting costs and piling more and more burdensome regulations on practitioners. Education and research are under assault. Worst of all, it’s become too easy to lose sight of the enormous privilege of being a neurosurgeon.
“We will launch a deliberate strategic planning process to ensure that we continue to provide the highest level of service to our members and, most of all, to their patients. It’s a tremendous honour to serve as president elect of the AANS.”
