Academy of Surgical Research Virtual Meeting

Keynote: Dr. Marc Oria - One of the keynote presentations at this year’s Academy of Surgical Research Virtual Annual Meeting, October 13 and 15 will feature Dr. Marc Oria, PhD. He is a Research Faculty Instructor at the Center for Fetal and Placental Research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center of the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Oria earned a degree in Biological Science at the University of Barcelona (Spain) and followed that with PhD studies at the University Autonomous of Barcelona. He joined the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2013. He is currently doing research on the developmental and neurodegenerative effects of Hydrocephalus and Spinal Bifida on the Central Nervous System, both in the spinal cord and in the brain. During his research career in neuroscience, he worked in both acute and chronic injuries like Spinal Cord Injury, Hepatic Encephalopathy, Spinal Bifida and hydrocephalus. To do that he is using both small and large animal models. The title of his keynote presentation is: “Bridging the Translational Gap in Spinal Bifida: Surgical Animal Models and in Utero Repair”. A recent randomized trial demonstrated that open fetal surgery is effective in reducing the postnatal neurologic morbidity, as evidenced by decreased incidence and severity of postnatal hydrocephalus and reduced need for postnatal ventricular-peritoneal shunting. However, as open fetal surgery has been noticed to be associated with increased potential for maternal-fetal morbidities, innovative minimally invasive fetoscopic techniques to repair MMC are receiving growing attentions for their less invasiveness and now under clinical study in human. A validated animal models is needed to bridge the translational gap to the clinic and should mimic the human condition to assess the efficacy of novel fetal therapies. We also will offer 2 days of knowledge packed sessions and poster presentations. Check out our website for updates: https://surgicalresearch.org/