3 Jacobs School Faculty Perform Live Cases Broadcast to VIVA

Elad I. Levy, MD, L. Nelson Hopkins III, MD, Professor and Chair of neurosurgery; and Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of neurosurgery; performed a live case from the Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) — a carotid intervention — to the 2,000-plus attendees.

Siddiqui, in collaboration with David M. Zlotnick, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiovascular medicine, performed complex upper extremity arterial revascularizations with cerebral protection the following day.

Live cases have been broadcast to audiences in Germany, Israel and other countries around the world.

“Being asked to present live cases at a very prestigious international conference demonstrates recognition of the world-class reputation we are trying to build here,” Zlotnick says. “This exposure helps other health care providers around the world to treat their patients with up-to-date techniques and also sparks ideas that ultimately lead to further advancement in this field.”

GVI was one of five medical facilities in the world to be chosen to broadcast live surgeries at the conference.

“We were very proud to be performers at this tremendous event. This broadcast highlighted the position we hold in the neuroendovascular world as leaders in bringing the latest and best technologies to the forefront,” Siddiqui says.

VIVA, the largest peripheral vascular meeting in the world, showcases the most unprecedented research available in international medicine. 

“I think this puts the university at center stage. In the neurosurgery community, both nationally and internationally, physicians from all over the world get to see what we do right here at UB, often on a daily basis,” Levy says. “We become a focal point for medical education not only for medical students and residents, but for physicians nationally and internationally.”

The physicians in the Department of Neurosurgery are experienced at doing live cases, having performed them for more than a decade.

“UB Neurosurgery was the first group in the country — as far as I know — to do live neurosurgical cases in a vascular lab,” Levy says. “We brought this to the neurosurgery meetings. Subsequently, there have been other medical centers around the country, but we’ve done more than any other university medical school thus far.”

L. Nelson Hopkins III, MD, who served as SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery from 1989 to 2013, was honored with the ATLAS award at the conference.

The ATLAS award, which stands for “a teacher, leader and scholar,” celebrates the career and influence of physicians who have distinguished themselves as scholars and leaders in their respective vascular fields.

Hopkins, a native of Buffalo, is the 10th physician and only neurosurgeon to receive the distinguished award.

Hopkins, who was named a SUNY Distinguished Professor in 2013, is an internationally recognized pioneer in endovascular neurosurgery, a subspecialty dedicated to minimally invasive treatment of vascular disease of the brain and spine.

He founded UB’s Toshiba Stroke and Vascular Research Center, the GVI and the Jacobs Institute.

“Our participation in VIVA is a testimony to the outstanding reputation of our center for patient care, teaching and research,” Hopkins said.

The conference took place in September.