Andrew Hale, M.D., Ph.D.Andrew Hale, M.D., Ph.D., a neurological surgery resident in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery, has been selected to join the Neurosurgeon-Scientist Training Program (NSTP), an initiative from the Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS).

The highly competitive two-year program is designed to cultivate the next generation of neurosurgeon-scientists by providing mentorship, structured education and research experience. Its primary goal is to prepare trainees to secure individual research funding and launch independent research careers in academic neurosurgery.

"Additional research by clinician-scientist neurosurgeons is critical to the fundamental discovery that advances new methods of care and new cures," said officials from the SNS.

NSTP participants are typically neurosurgery residents entering or having recently completed a dedicated research year. The UAB Department of Neurosurgery includes a protected research year as part of its residency training program, aligning well with the NSTP’s objectives.

Hale, who has previously earned recognition for his research in hydrocephalus, vein of Galen malformation and human genetics, will focus his NSTP work on the genetics, mechanisms and molecular diagnostics of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).