Program Chairs
Keynote Speakers
Faculty
Dr. Evangelia LioutaPh.D.
Dr. Evangelos DrososMD MSc
Dr. Gelareh ZadehMD, PhD, FRCS(C), FAANS
Gina BastaldoBSc, MSc, CNIM
Gina Bastaldo BSc, MSc, CNIM
Gina Bastaldo is a senior Intraoperative Neurophysiologist with over 23 years of neuromonitoring experience at the University Health Network. Her clinical responsibilities include protecting the nervous system of patients undergoing high-risk surgery.
Dedicated to health quality and safety, Gina Bastaldo obtained a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality from Queens University.
She was appointed as the first Editor-In-Chief of the Canadian IONM News, an online publication promoting neuromonitoring education and safety guidelines.
As a long-standing advocate for neuromonitoring in Canada, Gina Bastaldo is founding member of the Canadian Association of Neurophysiological Monitoring and served as a Course Coordinator for the IONM Certificate Program at the Michener Institute of Education.
Dr. Konstantinos G. Papadopoulos
Dr. Konstantinos Gervasios Papadopoulos is currently a Surgical Neurophysiology associate of the Department of Neurosurgery, National Kapodistrian University, Medical School of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital since 2017. He is also a part of the academic program responsible for the coordination in a Master of Sciences Degree concerning the subject of "Intraoperative Neurophysiology in Neurosurgery". At the same institute he is responsible for the neurophysiological monitoring in neuro-oncology cases that requires awake and asleep brain mapping.
He has served in the Scoliosis & Spinal Cord Unit at KAT Hospital - Centre for Accident and Trauma charged with Intraoperative Neurophysiology from 2003 up to 2015. From that year, 2015 until 2017 worked at the 2nd Department of Anesthesiology, National Kapodistrian University, Medical School of Athens, Attikon Hospital as a scientific associate in Intraoperative Neurophysiology with academic as well as intraoperative duties.
Since 2002, when returned to his home country, has an experience of over than 3900 cases concerning spinal deformity, spinal trauma, degenerative disease and spinal tumor surgery. Due to his involvement in Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring since his medical academic years, he associated with many institutes where operative procedures until that time were performed with no IOM involvement, since before 2001. Working together with several university clinics but also military hospitals and private institutions has a range of a total of 8700 cases in the fields of orthopedics, neurosurgery, vascular and general surgery. Put a lot of effort in educating and enlightening the surgical community on the necessity of the use of IONM with the right standards with numerous congress presentations and publications in journals.
Nancy Lu
Nancy Lu is an Intraoperative Neurophysiologist at Toronto Western Hospital, part of the Neurosurgical Intraoperative Department dedicated to monitoring Neuro and Spine Surgical cases. Nancy graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto and obtained her Certification in Neurophysiological Intraoperative Monitoring (CNIM) from the American Board of Registration of EEG and EP Technologists. Nancy was past Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Neurophysiological Monitoring (CANM) which is an association focused on promoting the field of Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) and representing Canadian IONM professionals. Nancy has also been on the CANM Symposium Executive Committee to organize annual conferences. Lastly, Nancy continues to participate in multiple teaching modules, workshops and observerships to promote and educate IONM for the betterment of patients.
Dr. Ruth Lau
Ruth Lau completed her medical degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) in 2011, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She finished her residency training in Neurosurgery at the Bellvitge University Hospital (Barcelona, Spain) in 2017, and she worked for four years as a staff member at the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona (Spain). In 2019, she received the WFNS Young Neurosurgeon Award. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Barcelona, with a thesis describing new endoscopic approaches to deep lesions in the ventricular atrium and the mesial temporal region based on white matter connectivity. From June 2021 to July 2023, she did a clinical fellowship in Neuro-Oncology and Skull Base at the Toronto Western Hospital (University of Toronto, Canada), where she focused on the treatment of intra-axial and extra-axial brain tumors, skull base pathology, and endoscopic treatment of pituitary disease and anterior skull base tumors. Her research is focused on brain mapping, transcranial magnetic stimulation for preoperative mapping of patients with brain tumors located in the supplementary motor area, radiosurgery, and, under the guidance of Dr. Zadeh, she is working on projects based on liquid biopsy of central nervous system tumors, such as high-grade gliomas, brain metastases, and meningiomas.
Dr. Fang-Cheng Yeh
Dr. Yeh and his team provide tools and methodologies to researchers worldwide, supporting the progress in understanding brain connectivity and its implications for neurological disorders. He developed DSI Studio, a software that is used in the neuroscience community. DSI Studio offers functionalities for diffusion MRI analysis, including preprocessing, tensor estimation, and fiber tractography. The software also provides additional tools such as automatic quality control, ROI editing, and clustering analysis, allowing researchers to customize their analyses to extent. DSI Studio supports various diffusion MRI data types, making it compatible with different research studies. DSI Studio has been cited in 2,000 publications, indicating recognition and contribution to neuroscience.
Dr. Evangelia Liouta Ph.D.
Evangelia Liouta, PhD, is a staff neuropsychologist at Evangelismos Hospital ,1st University Department of Neurosurgery, in Athens, Greece. Dr. Liouta earned her MSc(Hons) degree in Neuropsychology from University of Bristol, UK and her doctoral degree from University of Tubingen, Germany, with emphasis on cognition and RS-fMRI in brain tumor patients.
Dr. Liouta’s 10- years clinical practice involves preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative assessment of patients’ cognitive functioning, and integrating their profile with relevant medical clinical and neuroimaging data in order to help with diagnosis and formulation of appropriate treatment decision and strategies. Her work focuses on neurosurgical conditions with specialization on brain tumors and iNPH.
Her primary research endeavors have involved transcranial stimulation methods (e.g. tDCS & tACS) as well as advanced neuroimaging techniques (e.g RS-fMRI). Her current research and teaching focus on neurocognitive aspects of intraparenchymal tumors (e.g. glioma) and normal pressure hydrocephalus and their treatment. Dr. Liouta’s work has been presented and published both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Carlos Velasquez
Carlos Velásquez is a Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Neurosurgery Department & Spine Unit at Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla (HUMV) and a researcher in the "Cell Signalling and Therapeutic Targets in Cancer" research group at IDIVAL, with a personal clinical and research interest in neuro-oncology and neuroanatomy. He underwent neurosurgical training at HUMV. He then completed the Ph.D. program at the University of Cantabria with a thesis on the role of hypoxia-dependent methylation in the regulation of ODZ1-dependent invasion in glioblastoma under the supervision of Dr. JL Fernández-Luna and Dr. Juan Martino. He was awarded the Wenceslao Lo´pez-Albo Grant from IDIVAL to pursue further sub-specialized training and develop a healthcare innovation project in the field of neuro-oncology. This allowed him to complete a Research Fellowship in Neuro-oncology at the McFeeters-Hamilton Center for Neuro-Oncology Research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto, Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Gelareh Zadeh (2017-2018) and the Neuro-Oncology and Skull Base Surgery clinical fellowship program (2018-2019) at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Gelareh Zadeh, Dr. Mark Bernstein, Dr. Fred Gentili, and Dr. Paul Kongkham. In 2019 he joined the neurosurgery team at HUMV as a consultant neurosurgeon, where he develops his activity within the neuro-oncology neurosurgery unit. At HUMV he initiated and currently coordinates the Outpatient Neurosurgery program including the Outpatient Oncological Neurosurgery protocol. He´s also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Anatomy of the University of Cantabria. Besides, he completed his neurosurgery board certification and became a Fellow of the European Board of Neurosurgery (FEBNS), and, among other awards, he has received the Garcia-Palomo Award and the SENEC scholarship for residents. He is also a member of the Spanish Neurosurgical Society (SENEC) and the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies.
Dr. Mary Pat McAndrews
Mary Pat McAndrews, PhD. is a Senior Scientist and Head of the Division of Clinical and Computational Neuroscience at the Krembil Research Institute, the Director of Operations at the Slaight Family Centre for Advanced MRI at the University Health Network, and Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Toronto. A clinical neuropsychologist and member of the American Society of Functional Neuroradiology, she established clinical fMRI for epilepsy and neuro-oncology surgery at UHN. Her primary research focuses on memory and language networks, using functional neuroimaging, studies of patients with temporal lobe dysfunction, and brain stimulation techniques to understand how these networks are organized and modified by focal damage or therapies.
Dr. Georgios Skandalakis
Georgios was born and raised in Athens, Greece. He majored in Business administration and attended the University of Athens for his graduate medical studies. He then moved in NY where he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai studying photodynamic therapy and magnetic hyperthermia for the treatment of malignant brain tumors. During medical school, Georgios developed a passion for teaching neurosurgical anatomy. His research is focused on studying brain connectivity for the development of safer neurosurgical approaches. Georgios enjoys the outdoors and spending time with friends and family.
Dr. Christos Koutsarnakis
Coming Soon...
Dr. Juan Martino
Coming Soon...
Dr. Evangelos Drosos
Currently working as a Lateral Skull Base Fellow at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK.
Completed my Neurosurgical training in Athens, Greece, with an MSc degree in Applied Neuroanatomy, while working as an Academic Research Fellow in the Athens Microneurosurgery Laboratory. Main fields of research are White-Matter and Skull Base anatomy, co-authoring several peer-reviewed papers on the subject.
Keen interest in Neuroanatomy training of pre- and post-graduate students and have been working at the Anatomy Department of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with video and live demonstrations of cadaveric and virtual dissections. Also been active in the training of local Young Neurosurgical trainees, organizing cadaveric courses and basic skills workshops.
Active member of the EANS since 2015, member of the EANS Young Neurosurgeons Committee and chair of the EANS Young Neurosurgeons Network.
Dr. Gelareh Zadeh
Dr. Gelareh Zadeh, MD, PhD, FRCS(C), FAANS, is Dan Family Chair and Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto. She is Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Toronto Western Hospital and Co-Director for the Krembil Brain Institute at University Health Network. Dr. Zadeh is a Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre where she runs a translational research program at MacFeeters-Hamilton Neuro-oncology Program and holds the Wilkins Family Brain Tumor Research Chair.
Dr. Zadeh has a dedicated neuro-oncology and skull base practice, which includes a number of multidisciplinary specialized programs including a skull base clinic, brain metastases, pituitary clinic, and neurofibromatosis clinics. In parallel, she has an active research laboratory focusing on integrated multi-platform molecular analysis of brain tumors, together with a focus on understanding molecular response to targeted therapies, such as anti-angiogenesis and metabolic inhibitors. She is also involved in a number of national and international organizations. As past President of Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO), she still holds responsibilities. She is Chair, Women in Neurosurgery Committee, WFNS also the Co-Chair and founder of the International Consortium on Meningiomas (ICOM) and Editor-in-Chief of Neuro-Oncology Advances, open access journal of SNO and EANO.
Dr. Lorenzo Bello
Coming Soon...
Dr. Aristotelis Kalyvas
Dr. Aristotelis Kalyvas is a staff neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, specializing in intra-axial brain tumor and skull base surgery. He employs multiparametric pre and intra-operative brain mapping for intra-axial tumors. Dr. Kalyvas earned his MD from the University of Ioannina and completed his neurosurgical residency and a clinical fellowship in awake intra-operative brain mapping in Athens, Greece. He later pursued a two-year clinical fellowship at Toronto Western Hospital/University of Toronto, focusing on the management of complex intra-axial tumors and surgical and radiosurgical treatment of pituitary tumors and skull base pathologies. Dr. Kalyvas holds an MSc in Surgical Sciences from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and a PhD in structural brain connectivity from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Passionate about education, Dr. Kalyvas organizes training courses to enhance surgeons' understanding of critical white matter pathways, including the NeuroConnect2023 International Course in Toronto, co-organized with Dr. Paul Kongkham. In 2021, he received the Fellowship Teaching Award from the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Kalyvas' research interests include structural brain connectivity, brain mapping, and clinical trials/clinical research for brain, skull base, and pituitary tumors. He has published over 70 papers, with 15 original articles specifically focused on brain connectivity research, including papers delineating newly discovered human white matter tracts such as the middle longitudinal fasciculus and sledge runner fasciculus. His brain connectivity work has resulted in presentations at 10 national and international congresses, earning him four awards. Currently, Dr. Kalyvas is investigating the role of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and liquid biopsies in the diagnosis of brain tumors under the guidance and mentorship of Drs. Zadeh and Lozano. Additionally, he is developing multiparametric brain mapping protocols, including one with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for patients with gliomas in the supplementary motor area.
Dr. David Sabsevitz
Dr. David Sabsevitz is a practicing neuropsychologist and associate professor at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He has a primary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology and a joint appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery. He is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in clinical neuropsychology and specializes in the evaluation and treatment of adults with neurological, behavioral and developmental disorders. His clinical interests focus on the pre-surgical evaluation of brain tumor and epilepsy patients, functional brain mapping, and extra- and intraoperative brain mapping to assist surgical planning in these patient populations. He leads the awake craniotomy neuropsychology mapping service line at Mayo Clinic. He has numerous publications in peer reviewed scientific journals and is widely recognized for developing innovative brain mapping techniques for awake brain tumor and epilepsy surgery. Dr. Sabsevitz is also very involved in teaching and education and lectures regularly at both the regional and national level.
Dr. Paula Alcaide Leon
Paula Alcaide Leon obtained her medical degree in 2005 at the University of Sevilla, Spain. Her diagnostic radiology training was also completed at the University of Sevilla from 2006 to 2010. She worked as a staff neuroradiologist in Barcelona in different institutions from 2010 to 2013 and completed a neuroradiology clinical and research fellowship at the University of Toronto from 2013 to 2016. From 2016 to 2019 she worked as a research specialist at the University of California San Francisco focusing on advanced brain tumor imaging research. In June 2020, Paula was appointed into a Full-time Clinician-Investigator position in the Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto and a Staff Radiologist position in the Joint Department of Medical Imaging at Toronto Western Hospital. Paula has dedicated her academic efforts to ensure clinical translation of advanced MR techniques with the overriding aim of improving patient care and patient outcomes. Her research interests include brain tumor imaging, advanced imaging development and gender in healthcare.
Dr Lakshmikumar ( Lashmi) VenkatraghavanMBBS, MD, FRCA, FRCPC
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Toronto
Director – Fellowship program, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Toronto
clinician-Investigator at Krembil Brain Institute
Staff Anesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital,
Director of Neuroanesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital
Medical director of the Neurosurgical Intraoperative Monitoring department at University Health Network
Main clinical focus - Neuro anesthesia
Special clinical interests include outpatient neurosurgery, functional neurosurgery - (epilepsy surgery, DBS surgery and awake craniotomies) and intracranial bypass procedures.
Main Research interests
1. Anesthesia for functional neurosurgery
2. Functional neuroimaging and anesthesia
3. Improving outcomes in neurosurgical patients
Peer-reviewed publications- 120
Book chapters- 10
Dr. Spyros Komaitis
Since 2015 I have conducted research and published articles in high impact factors journals, in the field of White Matter Anatomy and Brain connectivity at the Athens Microneurosurgery Laboratory. Additionally, I have participated as an instructor/demonstrator and speaker in the annual International course on Neurosurgical Anatomy and White Matter Dissection multiple times. As a Research Associate of the Microneurosurgery Laboratory I have co-organized the 3rd and 4th International Neurosurgical Anatomy and White Matter Dissection courses organized by the Academic Neurosurgery Department of the University of Athens and under the auspices of EANS. In the same context, I have conducted research on the connectivity of the motor and premotor areas in the human brain as part of my PhD thesis.
Event Dates
October 13 – 15, 2023
Times in the program are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Event Locations
The Temerty Advanced Surgical Education and Simulation Centre located in the Michener Institute of Education at UHN Toronto, ON Canada