Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) celebrates the plans and projects of the medical students, residents and fellows receiving grants and fellowships for the coming academic year. 

For 2022-23, the NREF will award more than $1.9 million in funding, including:

• Eleven (11) Research Fellowship Grants & Young Clinician Investigator Awards
• Thirteen (13) Medical Student Summer Research Fellowships
• Twenty-three (23) Clinical Fellowship Grants
• Two (2) CV Section Traveling Fellowships

The future of our specialty is in strong, capable hands as demonstrated by the creativity and innovation in the proposals from this year’s award winners. I encourage you to visit the NREF website ( www.nref.org) and familiarize yourself with the outstanding individuals and projects honored this year. These young neurosurgeons and aspiring physician-scientists have the capacity to move neurosurgery forward in ways we could not have imagined possible when the NREF was established more than 40 years ago.

The quality of the work conducted by NREF awardees makes me optimistic for the future of neurosurgery. These are young men and women with promising careers ahead of them. The NREF is proud to feature two recent Success Stories with you: Oliver Tang of Brown University, and Anthony Piscopo of the University of Iowa; both recipients of NREF Medical Student Summer Research Fellowships.

We have come a long way since 1980, and the NREF Board of Directors has plans and projects on the horizon, including new events, fellowships and training courses, to better serve our membership. Watch this space for announcements on future programs.

The generosity of our donors, industry partners, sections and partner organizations make it possible for us to support the advancement of technology, research and education in neurosurgery, so that today’s plans and projects become a reality, tomorrow.

It is an honor and a pleasure to continue serving as the chair of the NREF. Thank you for including NREF in your philanthropy, and best wishes for a safe and happy summer.