FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS
KRISTEN RILEY NAMED
SECRETARY OF SOUTHERN
NEUROSURGICAL SOCIETY
In early 2019, the Department
of Neurosurgery’s Kristen Riley,
MD, was named secretary of the
Southern Neurosurgical Society
(SNS). She has been a member of SNS since 2011
and will serve as secretary until 2021. Dr. Riley is only
the second woman to serve on the organization’s
executive council.
JERRY OAKES RETIRED FROM PRACTICE AFTER
NEARLY 25 YEARS
After almost 25 years of service to UAB and
Children’s of Alabama, W. Jerry Oakes, MD, the Dan
Hendley Professor of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery in
the UAB Department of Neurosurgery, retired from
clinical practice in 2016 but continues his academic
pursuits.
Throughout his career, Dr. Oakes raised the national
prominence of UAB and Children’s of Alabama.
He was recognized by his peers nationally with
various nominations and appointments to leadership
positions, including president of the American
Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, a member of the
Accreditation Council of Pediatric Neurosurgery
Fellowships, and head of the editorial board of the
Journal of Neurosurgery-Pediatrics.
Prior to coming to Birmingham in 1992, Dr. Oakes
was on faculty at Duke University, where he also
completed medical school and neurosurgery
residency. He also spent time training at Hospital
for Sick Children in Toronto, Great Ormond Street
Hospital for Sick Children in London, and in Zurich,
Switzerland.
YANCEY GILLESPIE STEPPED AWAY FROM
LEADERSHIP ROLES TO FOCUS ON RESEARCH
A conversation about the immunology of brain
tumors in 1978 sparked a research passion that
fueled the illustrious, productive career of G.
Yancey Gillespie, PhD. That conversation ultimately
led Gillespie to UAB, where he spent nearly three
decades developing a renowned neuro-oncology
research program.
In 2017, in order to focus more on his research,
Gillespie stepped away from several of his
formalized leadership roles. He now devotes his
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UAB Neurosurgery Annual Report 2020
attention to two areas of interest: oncolytic virus
therapy for brain tumors, and the effects of specific
kinase inhibitors on brain tumor growth. Much of
his research has been focused on the development
of animal models for intracranial malignant brain
tumors. These models have been used to test new
potential treatments, many of which have been
successfully translated from the lab to clinical trials.
Gillespie was one of three founding members of the
neuro-oncology program in the UAB Comprehensive
Cancer Center at the program’s creation in 1986.
Under his watch, the program grew from a small
group of three scientists to a large, multidisciplinary
collaborative that comprises 25 members from nine
departments and two schools. From 2011 to 2015,
neuro-oncology program members were responsible
for 183 impact publications and more than $6.9
million in grant and contract funding for UAB.
MARK HADLEY RECEIVES 2018
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
FROM CNS
UAB neurosurgeon Mark N. Hadley,
MD, received the 2018 Distinguished
Service Award from the Congress
of Neurological Surgeons (CNS).
He was honored at the organization’s 65th annual
meeting in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 9, 2018, and
officially received this award at the meeting’s
General Scientific Session III, titled “Systems and
Teams as a Means to Extend Human Performance.”
The Distinguished Service Award is the most
prestigious honor that the organization can bestow
on an individual.
Dr. Hadley, who serves as the Charles A. and Patsy
W. Collat Endowed Chair of Neurosurgery at UAB,
has been an active leader in the CNS for more than
30 years. He served as its president in 2003 and as
secretary from 1997 to 2000, among various other
roles.
Dr. Hadley is a nationally and internationally
recognized expert in the care and surgical treatment
of patients with spinal cord tumors and spinal
column pathology, including congenital anomalies,
traumatic spinal cord injuries, fractures of the spinal
vertebrae, degenerative spinal diseases, disc
herniations, spinal stenosis, spinal reconstruction,
and fusion procedures of the entire spinal column.
He performs an average of 300 such procedures
annually.