From left, UF Health neurosurgeons Brian Hoh, M.D.; Daniel Hoh, M.D.; and Maryam Rahman, M.D.
By Michelle Koidin Jaffee
University of Florida neurosurgery chair Brian Hoh, M.D., M.B.A., has been elected the 2020-21 president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, one of the largest international neurosurgical societies, with over 9,800 members.
Two other UF Health neurosurgeons, Daniel Hoh, M.D., and Maryam Rahman, M.D., also have been elected to leadership positions in the CNS: Daniel Hoh will serve as treasurer, and Rahman began her term last year as a member-at-large of the executive committee.
“These elected positions recognize the expertise and leadership of University of Florida neurosurgeons in advancing the field to provide the best possible care to patients facing devastating conditions such as brain or spinal cord tumor, aneurysm, stroke or spinal cord injury,” said David R. Nelson, M.D., senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “To have not one but three of our neurosurgeons leading the main professional neurosurgical society exemplifies our commitment to not only offering the best possible patient care of today, but to discovering ever-better techniques and providing world-class training to the neurosurgeons of tomorrow.”
Hoh took the helm as 71st president of the CNS in the same week that U.S. News & World Report named the University of Florida the No. 6 public university in the country, marking the fourth consecutive year that UF has risen in the rankings. U.S. News also recently named UF Health Shands Hospital the No. 1 hospital in the state of Florida, with nine adult specialties placing in the top 50 in Florida, five of them top in the state. In addition, UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital was nationally ranked in three specialties. The combined 12 ranked specialties are the most of any medical system in Florida.
“Dr. Hoh and his team embody the drive, passion and excellence that are elevating the University of Florida to claim its place among the very finest universities in this country,” said UF President Kent Fuchs.
Brian Hoh, the James & Brigitte Marino Family Professor and chair of neurosurgery in the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery in the UF College of Medicine, is an internationally known expert in the treatment of brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. He was named chair of the department in July 2018.
Hoh is a National Institutes of Health R01-funded principal investigator of basic science research investigating the biologic mechanisms of cerebral aneurysm formation and rupture, as well as innovative tissue engineering technology to improve the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. He is also a past director of the UF neurosurgery residency program and the UF endovascular surgical neuroradiology fellowship program, one of only two endovascular neurosurgery fellowships in the country accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
As president of the CNS, Hoh hopes to advance the organization’s mission of enhancing health through education and scientific collaboration despite the current challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My goal this year for the CNS is to support neurosurgeons and those who can impact our patients amidst the challenges of a global pandemic,” Hoh said.
Hoh noted that UF has a long history of leadership in organized neurosurgery: He is the fourth UF neurosurgery faculty member to serve as CNS president, following the late Albert L. Rhoton Jr., M.D. (28th CNS president); Arthur L. Day, M.D. (43rd CNS president); and William A. Friedman, M.D. (49th CNS president).
Friedman, the previous longtime chair of UF neurosurgery, has been selected to be the CNS honored guest, one of the highest honors in neurosurgery, at the CNS annual meeting scheduled for October 2021, Hoh said.
