The nervous system has always been a mystery even to the greatest specialists in the field. However, one has managed to discover some of them, due to hard work and dedication to neuroscience. 

Richard G. Fessler, MD, PhD serves as Professor of Neurosurgery at Rush University Medical Center. He is also routinely listed in “Best Doctors of America”, being in the top 100 scientists of the United States and top 1000 intellectuals of 2014.

Professor Fessler is known for his contributions to microendoscopic surgical developments. He has been instrumental in developing many minimally invasive surgical techniques, including ‘minimally invasive decompression of lumbar stenosis’, ‘minimally invasive microendoscopic posterior cervical discectomy’, ‘minimally invasive decompression of cervical stenosis’ and many more. 

Moreover, Professor Fessler is also well known for his pioneering research into human embryonic spinal cord transplantation for the treatment of spinal cord injury. He was co-principal investigator on the first human transplant study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of human embryonic spinal cord transplantation for the treatment of syringomyelia.

At this year’s edition of the IMSCB, we have the honor of having such a brilliant personality as our guest at one of our keynotes. Dr. Fessler will be more than delighted to share his life experience with you and answer all your questions related to his path in the neurosurgical field.

Genetic disorders are a tough challenge. From the patients’ families and loved ones to the medical team that takes care of them, everyone involved strives to offer those suffering from a genetic disorder a life as close to normal as possible. There are people who devote a good part of their lives to research with the sole purpose of finding an alternative for those who suffer. They are the “heroes in white coats”, who spend their time in the lab, studying, analyzing, trying, failing, and trying again, so that in the end they can offer the solution to a problem that seemed to be unsolvable.

One of them is Professor Guillaume Canaud, MD, PhD, head of the Translational Medicine and Targeted Therapy Unit at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. Alongside his team of researchers, he identified and reported a very promising therapeutic for patients with PIK3CA-Related Overgrowth Syndrome (PROS), a group of genetic disorders that lead to overgrowth in different parts of the body.

Canaud and his group pushed the clinical development of alpelisi(a drug used in breast cancer) for patients with PROS. Three clinical trials were launched in 2019 and led to the US FDA accelerated approval, on April 6th 2022, of this drug for patients with PROS aged at least 2 years old. 

By discovering the first and currently only treatment for patients with CLOVES syndrome or related disorders, Prof. Canaud is considered a man who revolutionized medicine, being a true pioneer in his field. For his outstanding contribution, he has been awarded the Prix Galien 2022, an award given annually to medical innovators.

Throughout his career, Prof. Guillaume Canaud has received numerous awards, including the 2019 Prize Eloi Collery of the French Academy of Medicine, the 2021 Gagna A. & Ch. Van Heck Prize for Incurable Diseases and the 2022 Robert Shobinger Award from the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies.

Our keynote gives you the opportunity to meet Prof. Guillaume Canaud and learn more about the long process behind this miracle which is currently saving many people’s lives.