Hydrocephalus Association Resident’s Prize Award
One way the Hydrocephalus Association promotes research and leadership in hydrocephalus is through our annual Resident’s Prize. This prize is awarded each year to the most promising hydrocephalus-related research paper presented by a neurosurgical resident at the Pediatric Section meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (AANS/CNS). The prize is designed to encourage young doctors to focus their research efforts on advancing treatment and care of individuals living with hydrocephalus.
HA is pleased to announce the 2013 winner: Jennifer Strahle, MD. Dr. Strahle received the award for her paper, ‘Early Treatment of Neonatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage-Associated Hydrocephalus with Systemic Deferoxamine,’ which she presented at last year’s Pediatric Section of the AANS/CNS meeting in Toronto, Canada. We believe her paper will advance our understanding of neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage and post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus.
Jennifer M. Strahle, MD, was born and raised in northern New Jersey. She graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, in 2002 with a BA in neuroscience and biochemistry. After graduation, she spent two years working in a neuroscience research lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where she studied the molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. She subsequently attended the University of Minnesota Medical School, where she graduated in 2008 as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. She is currently completing her residency in neurological surgery at the University of Michigan. While a resident, Dr. Strahle has developed a neonatal rat model to further understand the mechanisms of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus and hopes to develop preventive treatments focused on iron metabolism. Her other varied research interests include Chiari I malformation, syrinx, and scoliosis. In her free time, Dr. Strahle enjoys hiking, kayaking, and spending time with her husband and their 2 year old daughter.
In her research Dr. Strahle and her colleagues explore the role of arachnoid granulations, iron and hemoglobin have on the mechanisms by which hydrocephalus occurs. Early treatment with iron chelator deferoxamine (they are small molecules that bind very tightly to metal ions to detoxify and prevent poisoning) after neonatal IVH may reduce rates of hydrocephalus and is a possible avenue for future clinical trials.
Please read more about Dr. Strahle’s research here: Early treatment of neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage-associated hydrocephalus with systemic deferoxamine.