We invite chairs and program directors to nominate residents entering their 3rd, 4th, or 5th year of training to participate in the K12 Pipeline Accelerator Meeting (KPAC). This NIH-sponsored, two-day event is aimed at inspiring and developing the next generation of neurosurgeon-scientists. The focus is to enhance the pool of women and those underrepresented in medicine to become successful neurosurgeon-scientists and to promote diversity of research in all neurosurgical subspecialties including trauma, spine, pediatrics, and pain.

Residents accepted into KPAC will meet with a focused group of faculty in small sessions and focused discussions on Thursday, November 14, 2024, and join the K12 Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program (NRCDP) Retreaton Friday, November 15th. The entire event will be held at Eaglewood Resort just outside Chicago. Residents will be asked to arrive on the evening of November 14th and will depart on the evening of November 17th. Resident travel, hotel, and meals during the event will be covered.

We will be limiting the number of residents acceptedinto KPAC to ensure that we will be able to offer close faculty mentoring. The NIH has offered guidiance on what constitutes underepresented in medicine here.

If there are potential candidates in your program, please send the following information to b.bahmani@wustl.edu and eli@montefiore.org by July 15, 2024.

• Resident name

• Resident email

• Resident PGY level as of July 1, 2024

• Resident subspecialty interest

• Resident Self-Identified Demographics

o Race/Ethnicity

o Gender

• Residency Program

• Brief statement from the Chair or Program Director about why the resident would benefit from this program and why they support the nomination

• 200-word statement from the resident about their academic vision, background, research interests (if available), and why they would benefit from this program. Specific details are encouraged but not required.

Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD – K12 Co-PI; Professor and Vice-Chair of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Emad Eskandar, MD – K12 Co-PI; Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery, Montefiore

Langston Holly, MD – K12 Co-PI; Professor and Vice-Chair of Clinical Affairs for Neurosurgery, UCLA

Greg Zipfel, MD – K12 Co-PI; Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery, Washington University in St.Louis