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WORLD NEUROSURGERY's “Neurosurgeon of the Year” for 2012, Liang Fu Zhou
COLLEGIAL COMMENTARIES
Times are changing in China and around the world. In the past, Professor Zhou’s life would be examined mostly in the context of China and its position in the world. He shepherded his department on the way to becoming modern. Today, it is as responsible as any neurosurgery department in the world for defining contemporary neurosurgical practice. No one who stands on the Bund in Shanghai can fail to marvel at the significance of what is happening in China. And no one who walks the halls of Huashan can mistake that the same is happening in Chinese neurosurgery—in large part because of Professor Zhou’s vision and commitment. Those who have been fortunate enough to visit his department will recall with admiration how the massive clinical enterprise is balanced by a warm and welcoming staff. I can testify from personal experience that Professor Zhou is a gracious host. He has applied himself with dedication to bringing outside neurosurgical influences into China and has been equally diligent about sending his own neurosurgeons abroad. Many institutions around the world have been visited by members of Professor Zhou’s department; we at the Barrow Neurological Institute have been pleased to host quite a few. Personally, I am fortunate to count more than one member of his department among my friends. China will face many challenges in the coming years, many of which will also affect neurosurgery. Legacy is important, and Professor Zhou has built a magnificent foundation for future giants to stand on. He well deserves the accolade represented by being named Neurosurgeon of the Year. 1878-8750/$ - see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2011.11.025
Anil Nanda, M.D. Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
I
n the midst of the bustling metropolis of Shanghai is a tall lean skyscraper that would look like any building in New York City, London, or Hong Kong. Only this is one of the premiere hospitals in China, and housed within its cavernous structure is the remarkable Huashan Hospital, a branch of Fudan University. When I first went there as a guest of Professor Zhou, I was amazed at the three floors of operating rooms with 28 neurosurgical operating rooms teeming like beehives and a service with more than 100 attending neurosurgeons performing close to 9000 neurosurgical procedures. What was even more remarkable was that these cases did not include any degenerative spine or deformity surgery. Clearly Professor Zhou has built one of the great neurosurgical services in the world. The product of Shanghai’s first medical college, Dr. Zhou has worked continuously at Huashan Hospital since 1970 and has moved up the ranks. He completed fellowships at the Mayo Clinic, UCLA, and Lahey Clinic. He has been Chief of Neurosurgery for several decades and has trained more than a thousand fellows and physicians across China. He has held many leadership positions in China and is an elected academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
WORLD NEUROSURGERY 77 [2]: 226-232, FEBRUARY 2012
The thing that is most striking about Professor Zhou is that he is extremely unassuming, very self-deprecating, and will not focus any attention on himself. It is a tribute to his dynamic leadership that he was able to build up such a stupendous service with meager resources and make a huge difference in the world of neurosurgery. All of neurosurgery has benefited from his service and dedication and his pursuit of excellence. During the golden period of the Qing Dynasty in China, Qianlong was a legendary Emperor, and there was such prosperity around the kingdom that this was called the shengshi period, an age of prosperity. Clearly Professor Zhou has established a shengshi period of Neurosurgery in mainland China. It is our privilege and good fortune to have a colleague with such distinction and stature. Congratulations on this well deserved honor. 1878-8750/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Inc. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2011.11.033
Tomio Ohta, M.D., Ph.D. Honorary President, Director of Brain Dock Center, Osaka Neurological Institute, Emeritus Professor, Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan
I
was so pleased to hear that my dear friend Professor Liangfu Zhou has been selected by a senior committee of the publication as a WORLD NEUROSURGERY Neurosurgeon of the Year 2012. I am quite sure that he is the best qualified person to have been selected as such an honorable neurosurgeon. I met Professor Zhou in 1989 when I visited Huashan Hospital in Shanghai for the first time. My first impression of him was that he was quiet but smart, a person with integrity and inner strength. I felt that this young professor had something special to leave such an impression in my heart. Since then, Professor Zhou and I have seen each other often. In 1990, I invited him with Professor Yuquan Shi to my home for dinner, during the Second Conference of Neurological Technique and Tools in Osaka, which I organized as president. It was one of the most cheerful times—so far! When I had my retirement ceremony in 2000, Professor Zhou visited Osaka and addressed me with the warmest remarks and the Golden Certificate of Commendation. Last year, I was invited along with my wife as an honorable president to the 5th International Conference of Neurosurgery, Shanghai 2010, which Professor Zhou organized as president, and had a chance to present a paper entitled “Emergency Coma Scale—Hybrid Coma Scale of GCS and Japan Coma Scale (JCS).” When I was a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka Medical College, I accepted many young Chinese neurosurgeons, among whom Professor Weidong Lieu is now President and Chief of Neurosurgery, Punan Hospital, affiliated with Huashan Hospital. Professor Zhou was finally nominated in 2009 as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, which must be one of the highest positions in the neurosurgical field in China. I am sure he is now a very eminent person in China. Now, instead of speaking too much about Professor Zhou’s neurosurgical accomplishments, I would like to discuss our future mission in the era of globalization.
www.WORLDNEUROSURGERY.org
229
Times are changing in China and around the world. In the past, Professor Zhou’s life would be examined mostly in the context of China and its position in the world. He shepherded his department on the way to becoming modern. Today, it is as responsible as any neurosurgery department in the world for defining contemporary neurosurgical practice. No one who stands on the Bund in Shanghai can fail to marvel at the significance of what is happening in China. And no one who walks the halls of Huashan can mistake that the same is happening in Chinese neurosurgery—in large part because of Professor Zhou’s vision and commitment. Those who have been fortunate enough to visit his department will recall with admiration how the massive clinical enterprise is balanced by a warm and welcoming staff. I can testify from personal experience that Professor Zhou is a gracious host. He has applied himself with dedication to bringing outside neurosurgical influences into China and has been equally diligent about sending his own neurosurgeons abroad. Many institutions around the world have been visited by members of Professor Zhou’s department; we at the Barrow Neurological Institute have been pleased to host quite a few. Personally, I am fortunate to count more than one member of his department among my friends. China will face many challenges in the coming years, many of which will also affect neurosurgery. Legacy is important, and Professor Zhou has built a magnificent foundation for future giants to stand on. He well deserves the accolade represented by being named Neurosurgeon of the Year. 1878-8750/$ - see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2011.11.025
Anil Nanda, M.D. Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
I
n the midst of the bustling metropolis of Shanghai is a tall lean skyscraper that would look like any building in New York City, London, or Hong Kong. Only this is one of the premiere hospitals in China, and housed within its cavernous structure is the remarkable Huashan Hospital, a branch of Fudan University. When I first went there as a guest of Professor Zhou, I was amazed at the three floors of operating rooms with 28 neurosurgical operating rooms teeming like beehives and a service with more than 100 attending neurosurgeons performing close to 9000 neurosurgical procedures. What was even more remarkable was that these cases did not include any degenerative spine or deformity surgery. Clearly Professor Zhou has built one of the great neurosurgical services in the world. The product of Shanghai’s first medical college, Dr. Zhou has worked continuously at Huashan Hospital since 1970 and has moved up the ranks. He completed fellowships at the Mayo Clinic, UCLA, and Lahey Clinic. He has been Chief of Neurosurgery for several decades and has trained more than a thousand fellows and physicians across China. He has held many leadership positions in China and is an elected academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
WORLD NEUROSURGERY 77 [2]: 226-232, FEBRUARY 2012
The thing that is most striking about Professor Zhou is that he is extremely unassuming, very self-deprecating, and will not focus any attention on himself. It is a tribute to his dynamic leadership that he was able to build up such a stupendous service with meager resources and make a huge difference in the world of neurosurgery. All of neurosurgery has benefited from his service and dedication and his pursuit of excellence. During the golden period of the Qing Dynasty in China, Qianlong was a legendary Emperor, and there was such prosperity around the kingdom that this was called the shengshi period, an age of prosperity. Clearly Professor Zhou has established a shengshi period of Neurosurgery in mainland China. It is our privilege and good fortune to have a colleague with such distinction and stature. Congratulations on this well deserved honor. 1878-8750/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Inc. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2011.11.033
Tomio Ohta, M.D., Ph.D. Honorary President, Director of Brain Dock Center, Osaka Neurological Institute, Emeritus Professor, Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan
I
was so pleased to hear that my dear friend Professor Liangfu Zhou has been selected by a senior committee of the publication as a WORLD NEUROSURGERY Neurosurgeon of the Year 2012. I am quite sure that he is the best qualified person to have been selected as such an honorable neurosurgeon. I met Professor Zhou in 1989 when I visited Huashan Hospital in Shanghai for the first time. My first impression of him was that he was quiet but smart, a person with integrity and inner strength. I felt that this young professor had something special to leave such an impression in my heart. Since then, Professor Zhou and I have seen each other often. In 1990, I invited him with Professor Yuquan Shi to my home for dinner, during the Second Conference of Neurological Technique and Tools in Osaka, which I organized as president. It was one of the most cheerful times—so far! When I had my retirement ceremony in 2000, Professor Zhou visited Osaka and addressed me with the warmest remarks and the Golden Certificate of Commendation. Last year, I was invited along with my wife as an honorable president to the 5th International Conference of Neurosurgery, Shanghai 2010, which Professor Zhou organized as president, and had a chance to present a paper entitled “Emergency Coma Scale—Hybrid Coma Scale of GCS and Japan Coma Scale (JCS).” When I was a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka Medical College, I accepted many young Chinese neurosurgeons, among whom Professor Weidong Lieu is now President and Chief of Neurosurgery, Punan Hospital, affiliated with Huashan Hospital. Professor Zhou was finally nominated in 2009 as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, which must be one of the highest positions in the neurosurgical field in China. I am sure he is now a very eminent person in China. Now, instead of speaking too much about Professor Zhou’s neurosurgical accomplishments, I would like to discuss our future mission in the era of globalization.
www.WORLDNEUROSURGERY.org
229