Elad I. Levy, MD, notes that the neurosurgery residency’s ranking for academic productivity is especially noteworthy, given the size of competing departments.
Neurosurgery Program is Among Top 20 Most Productive in US
Published September 18, 2015 This content is archived.
story based on news release by sue wuetcher
The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Neurosurgery has the 17th most academically productive neurosurgery residency program in the U.S., according to an article in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
The article, “Five-Year Institutional Bibliometric Profiles for 103 U.S. Neurosurgical Residency Programs,” notes that the department had 13 faculty members producing 146 publications and garnering 2,812 citations over a period of five years.
UB’s Ranking is Especially Noteworthy, Says Levy
Elad I. Levy, MD, professor and chair of neurosurgery, noted that his department’s ranking is especially noteworthy, given the size of some of the competing departments.
“We were one of the smallest departments to crack the top 20, making our per-capita publication rate exceptional,” he said.
Academic publishing productivity reflects the quality and quantity of research and contributes to a program’s ability to attract the best trainees and faculty.
“The faculty members in our department have all made impacts on national neurosurgery,” said Levy.
He and other UB neurosurgeons have a history of pioneering minimally invasive stroke treatments, and their funded research involves work by aerospace engineers and cell biologists.
Leonardo’s Leadership Has Increased Excellence
Jody Leonardo, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery, directs the residency program.
“The addition of Dr. Leonardo as our program director has led to growth in the residency program and invigorated the demand for excellence in all aspects of residency training,” emphasized Levy.
Leonardo specializes in performing minimally invasive endoscopic surgery on intracranial pathology. She is an expert on pituitary and intraventricular tumor resections and hydrocephalus.
UB Has Specialized Neurosurgery Fellowships
In addition to mentoring residents, UB neurosurgeons pass along their knowledge to fellows in several training programs.
“We currently have a fellowship in endovascular neurosurgery, a complex spine program and an endoscopic neurosurgery program,” said Levy.
Top 5 Programs Include UCSF, UCLA
The authors of the Journal of Neurosurgery article, from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, assessed total publications and citations from 2009 through 2013 by faculty from 103 neurosurgical residency programs.
They found that the top five programs were:
- University of California, San Francisco
- UCLA
- University of Pittsburgh
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Johns Hopkins University