Scoville Award Committee Report

It is my great honor, outstanding privilege and distinct pleasure to inform, as Chairman of the Scoville Award Committee, that Professor Ossama Al-Mefty has been nominated as the recipient of this remarkable distinction. The Scoville Award. The delivery will take place during the opening ceremony of the next World Congress of Neurosurgery that will be held from August 29th to September 3rd (2021), in the Convention Center Ágora Bogotá (Colombia). Here is a brief review of his remarkable career, which makes him worthy of this award.

Professor Ossama Al-Mefty was born in Damascus, Syria, where he completed medical school. He then entered residency for neurosurgery at West Virginia University Medical Center, which he completed in 1978. Following residency, he worked in Richmond, VA, and then moved to Saudi Arabia to become the acting chairman of the Neurosciences Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. It was during his time at King Faisal Specialist Hospital that his interest in surgical treatment for skull base pathologies was born. He returned to the United States and became a faculty member of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS (1989 to 1991) where he was promoted to Professor of Neurosurgery. He subsequently joined the faculty at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, IL from 1991 to 1992. In 1993, he was recruited to become Professor and Chairman of Neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he served until 2009. He serves currently as the Director of the Skull Base Surgery Program, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Neurosciences Center, Boston, MA, USA.

Dr. Al-Mefty is an acknowledged pioneer in skull base surgery, his primary area of interest and expertise. His scientific contributions are reflected in his over 530 publications, which include 11 books, 120 book chapters, 11 covers of Journal of Neurosurgery, and 325 peer-reviewed journal articles with more than 16.166 citations. He has established the oldest and longest running skull base course - Skull Base Microsurgical and Endoscopic Techniques Course in St. Louis, MO, which just celebrated 30 years.

He has participated in over 1.000 presentations worldwide and in over 90 Visiting Professorships in national and international universities. He has also been a faculty member and director for over 360 different workshops and hands-on courses. He has been honored by prestigious neurosurgical lectureships and awards, including the First Sugita Memorial Lecture, the Penfield Lecture, the Olivecrona Award, the Wilhelm Magnus Medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the neurosurgical field, the Cushing Medal for excellence and innovation, and the Medal of Honor from the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons. The core of his legacy is pioneering, developing, and refining new approaches to lesions of the skull base, such as the cranio-orbital zygomatic, petrosal approach, transcondylar, and anterior clivectomy approaches. An extraordinary and truly remarkable academic career!!!

Professor Al-Mefty is happily married to Janice Al-Mefty and they have three children: Kynda, Kaith, and Rami. This family has been a fundamental support for their professional and personal success.

It is the decision of the WFNS Scoville Award Committee that Professor Ossama Al Mefty more than deserves to receive this Scoville Award distinction. He is a true giant of the neurosurgical specialty, scientist, teacher, leader, mentor, author and scholar. He truly deserves the honor of the Scoville Award. It is through this report that I communicate this important decision , and at the same time, I indicate that it has been a pleasure to reach this just decision.