University of Virginia Health System

U.VA. DOCTOR RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Dr. Ladislau Steiner, the Alumni Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia Health System, received the Sugita Award on Sept. 14 at the Fourth Congress of the International Society for Neurosurgical Technology and Instrument Invention (ISNTii) in Queensland, Australia. The biennial award is given to the most outstanding contributor to neurosurgical invention and is named in honor of the founder of ISNTii, Kenchiro Sugita.

Steiner was involved with the development and clinical application of the Gamma Knife with its inventor Lars Leksell of Sweden. The Gamma Knife is a neurosurgical tool that allows a physician to perform brain surgery without a scalpel or actually entering the skull. Steiner was the first doctor to use the Gamma Knife on arteriovenous malformation and several types of tumors. He also devised the first titanium clip, a basal ring for Leskell's stereotactic system, a laser guide for microsurgery.

The ISNTii Congress promotes international awareness of technological developments in neurosurgery worldwide.

October 2, 2001