About NeurosurGen

Mission:

The mission of NeurosurGen, Inc, (non-profit incorporated August 18th, 2022), is to compile and maintain genealogical data on every neurosurgeon in the US (and eventually, the world).

The NeurosurGen project chronicles a family tree for each neurosurgeon and is similar to the ones completed in the fields of Mathematics (https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/) and Astronomy (https://astrogen.aas.org/). The goals of the project are to provide historical and contemporary data on every Neurosurgeon in the US (and eventually worldwide). The benefits of this project include memorializing our rich history for posterity, and fostering camaraderie among Neurosurgeons.

The NeurosurGen website is constructed by Jonathan Galentine, who was instrumental in developing the AstroGen website. The website stores, displays, and edits academic ancestry data. Data is modeled using a structured database. A fuzzy text indexing system allows for speedy and relevant search results. The website user interface is built using ‘React’ for a fluid experience. Complete data are being collected on the Chair/Chief and Program Director lineage at each residency program (current and defunct). These data include the ancestry for each Chair/Chief. The list of current and deceased neurosurgeons in the U.S (and their place and date of residency completion) is mapped to the Chair/Chief at the time of their graduation to construct each neurosurgeon’s ancestry. Sources of data collection include (but are not limited to) departmental websites, Society of Neurological surgery website, obituaries, journal publications, AANS Leaders in Neuroscience video interviews and oral histories, and the societal records of deceased neurosurgeons.

Specific data collected on each living and deceased neurosurgeon (8000 estimated in US with approximately 3500 currently practicing) include: Name; Year of birth; Year of death (if applicable); Name of institution where neurosurgical training was obtained; Year of completion of residency; Name of Chair/Chief at time of graduation; Name of Program Director at time of graduation; Name, Place and Year of fellowship(s), and Name of Fellowship; Gender; and Ethnicity.

President: Cargill H. Alleyne, Jr, M.D. is a neurosurgeon in practice at Piedmont Augusta in Augusta, Georgia. He is the former Chair and Program Director of the Department of Neurosurgery of Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University. He is a member of numerous organizations including a Director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery. His honors include Castle Connolly's Top Doctors and America's Best Doctors, America's Top Surgeons.

Secretary/Treasurer: Avi A. Gajjar, B.S., M.B.A., is a medical student at Albany Medical College. He graduated summa cum laude from Union College in a combined 8-year BS/MD/MBA, majoring in Political Science and Chemistry, and minoring in Psychology. He also earned his MBA in Healthcare Management while he was at Union. His areas of research interests include cerebrovascular, endovascular, and spinal neurosurgery. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is also an Eagle Scout and enjoys spending time outdoors kayaking, camping, biking, and skiing.

Information Technologist: Jonathan Galentine is a software engineer and information technologist. He is the founder of Eagle River Technologies, LLC. He is also a senior software engineer at SightGain Inc. He was instrumental in establishing the AstroGen project and website.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge several persons and societies who were instrumental to the project:

Vamsi Reddy, who had independently conceived of a similar genealogy project and collaborated with us early in the project
Michael Groff MD, chair of the Neurosurgery Research and Education Fund, a major donor to NeurosurGen
Austin Colohan MD, who provided assistance with the history of the California programs
Chris Neal MD, who provided much of the data from the military programs
Richard Leblanc MD, who provided key data from the Montreal Neurologic Institute
Cole Giller MD, who first brought the Mathematics project to the attention of Dr. Alleyne
Julia Smithing, a Student Medical Illustrator at Medical College of Georgia, who created the website background
Neurotree, an unrelated project which uses an online database called Academic Tree to identify mentor and trainee relationships in academic neurosurgery

The Society of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons (and its Philanthropic arm, the NREF), Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and the American Board of Neurological Surgeons, for their support of the project.