Dr. Gordon Baltuch Presents at The Dominican Society of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Last week, Dr. Gordon Baltuch, Co-Chief of Functional Neurosurgery Division at Columbia Neurosurgery, traveled to the Dominican Republic to present at The Dominican Society of Neurology and Neurosurgery (a member of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies) at its 32^nd Annual Meeting, Advances in Neurosciences which was hosted at the Hyatt Zilara in Punta Cana. This year’s program was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jose Silie Ruiz, who served as a renowned neurologist and was awarded the National Prize for Medicine in 2019. The meeting focused on the latest neurosurgical technology advancements, which Dr. Ruiz pioneered.

Dr. Baltuch, a neurosurgical pioneer in his own right, presented on Focused Ultrasound for Functional Neurosurgery, including its applications for essential tremor and Parkinson’s.  This technology is not yet widely available in the Dominican Republic or Latin America, with the only ultrasound machine available in Chile. These international meetings provide an incredible opportunity for Columbia to showcase the possibilities of this technology. The team currently cares for many Dominican immigrants in Washington Heights as well as their compatriots in the Dominican Republic who travel to Columbia/NYP for this procedure.

Said Dr. Baltuch of this latest speaking opportunity, “It’s such a pleasure to present to the Dominican Society of Neurology and Neurosurgery, as these meetings, at their best, allow for new audiences to become educated on where things are moving as a field despite current local practices not yet being able to adopt them.  It exposes these attendees to the possibilities of Focused Ultrasound, a once nascent field that’s rapidly changing how we can care for movement disorders.”

Dr. Baltuch continued, “Coming to Columbia Neurosurgery and serving the Dominican and Hispanic communities here has been an honor. Our diverse patient population continues to help our care teams learn all they can about these diseases and our abilities to build custom care plans tailored to each patient. I’m truly excited for the future of neurosurgery in the Dominican Republic and seeing how the local next generation of physicians will team with us to continue to innovate and drive lasting change for their local patient populations.”