The Faculty and Staff in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are committed to trying to find ways to prevent, diagnose and treat neurological disorders. Our labs are divided into separate divisions, each having a basic science and translational research component which is staffed by nationally recognized leaders.

Our divisions include Cerbrovascular, Spine and Spinal Cord, Pediatric, Functional and Brain Tumor. Each research division, collaborating with others throughout the University and world, support each other’s research by providing multidisciplinary expertise to develop greater understanding of surgical treatment options of the central nervous system.

 

Select the Neurological Surgery fund to which you want to give from the listing below. You can also make a gift by mail by sending your donation to: Department of Neurological Surgery, Attn: Kelly Belshaw, 600 Highland Avenue, Room H6/558, Madison, WI 53792.

 

 

Functional and Epilepsy Neurosurgery Research and Education Fund

Gifts support research and education related to the treatment of conditions where central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) function is abnormal although the structure or anatomy is normal.

 

Examples of conditions treated by functional neurosurgery are movement disorders (Parkinson's disease and tremor) and epilepsy. The Functional Neurosurgery division provides the platform for continued research in the potential surgical treatments of depression, obsessive compulsive behavior and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke.

 

 

Gifts support research in specific areas of pediatric neurosurgery and further the education of patient, faculty and healthcare providers. Research is aimed at improving the care of children with congenital brain and spinal cord anomalies and treating brain tumors, hydrocephalus, craniocervical congential disorders and the growth and regeneration of nerves in the developing brain.

 

 

Gifts support research into the causes, prevention and rehabilitation from both hemorrhagic (ruptured vessels in the brain) and thrombotic (occluded vessels in the carotid artery and brain) strokes.

 

Research is being done on the prevention of recurrent stroke, atherosclerotic disease, carotid vessels and hemorrhagic strokes intervention. Neurosurgeons and scientists are currently studying cerebral ischemia edema and traumatic brain injury, carotid artery atherosclerosis formation, acute management of subarachnoid hemorrhage and the molecular biology of embolic carotid diseases and its relationship to delayed cognitive impairment.

 

 

Gifts support research developing novel cancer therapies and the newest treatments for primary and secondary brain tumors. Researchers are studying tumor stem cells in hopes of stimulating an anti-tumor response and searching for tumor specific genes and drugs which will inhibit tumor growth.

Neurosurgery Spine and Spinal Cord Research and Education Fund

Gifts support research in the biomechanics of the spine as well as the potential for cellular repair of paralysis after spinal cord injury. Research is being conducted on the development of novel treatments for spinal cord injury and methods to promote functional recovery, alleviating neuropathic pain, assessing the mechanisms of plasticity of respiratory control following spinal cord injury, assessing the role of minocycline in the treatment of spinal cord injury and furthering understanding of the role of individual gene products in affecting functional recovery.