Jefferson Neurosurgeon Fernando Gonzalez, M.D., Awarded Grant from Brain Aneurysm Foundation
Fernando Gonzalez, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and assistant professor of Neurological Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University was recently awarded a $15,000 grant from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. Dr. Gonzalez is one of eight grant recipients being given an award at the Fifth Annual Brain Aneurysm Foundation Research Grant Symposium in New York this September.
The Brain Aneurysm Foundation, whose Medical Advisory Board is made up of a team of world-renowned neurosurgeons, neurologists, and interventional radiologists, gives grants to fund basic scientific research directed at early detection, improved treatment modalities, and technological advances that will ultimately improve outcomes for patients with brain aneurysms. Dr. Gonzalez received the award to continue his research on a technique that changes the blood flow pattern within the arterial vessel - ultimately impacting aneurysm formation.
“Grants fund research projects that promote a better understanding of why this condition happens and identify those at risk before an aneurysm rupture occurs,” says Christopher Ogilvy, M.D., Executive Director of the Medical Advisory Committee at the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. “We congratulate Dr. Gonzalez and all of the leading researchers on this achievement.”
“I am grateful to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation for its grant award and proud of its commitment to brain aneurysm research,” says Dr. Gonzalez. “Research gives us the opportunity to understand better treatment options to care for our patients.”
An estimated five percent of the population has an unruptured brain aneurysm. Many aneurysms cause no symptoms until they rupture. More than 40 percent of ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal, and of those surviving, only a third will recover without disabilities.
The Brain Aneurysm Foundation, the nation’s only nonprofit organization solely dedicated to providing critical awareness, education, support and research funding to reduce the incidence of brain aneurysms, receives most of its funds from former patients and families affected by cerebral aneurysms.
The award received by Dr. Gonzalez is funded by the Robert Simon Chair of Research. On March 23, 2011, Robert Simon lost his life at the age of 60 – the result of a ruptured brain aneurysm. To honor his memory, Pelican Athletic Club Charity Foundation donated the proceeds from its annual fundraising tournament, Aces Against Aneurysms. The annual Aces Against Aneurysms Tennis Tournament was created by Rebecca Winchell, a survivor of a ruptured brain aneurysm, in 2010.
For more information on The Brain Aneurysm Foundation, visit www.bafound.org.
Media Only Contact:
Jennifer McGowan-Smith
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 8/1/2011