UCSF resident to receive 2012 William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship

The William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship Selection Committee has announced Matthew Christopher Tate, MD, as the recipient of the 2012 William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship. Dr. Tate, a resident in neurological surgery at University of California in San Francisco, will commence the fellowship on July 1, 2012.

Dr. Tate will travel to Montpellier, France, where he will be hosted by the Department of Neurosurgery at the Hôpital Gui de Chauliac and be part of the Plasticity of Central Nervous System, Human Stem Cells and Glial Tumors team at the Institute of Neuroscience of Montepellier, INSERM U1051, at the Hôpital Saint-Eloi. Under the mentorship of Dr. Hugues Duffau, Dr. Tate plans to utilize direct cortical stimulation in awake human patients to both establish a standardized functional atlas of human brain function and to investigate the functional consequence of brain plasticity following injury.

"The Van Wagenen Fellowship provides me with an incredible opportunity to continue my interest in improving outcomes for patients with brain tumors involving eloquent areas and to develop new insights into the dynamic functional organization of the human brain at a premier international institution that will perfectly supplement my training to date," said Dr. Tate.

Awarded annually since 1968, the Van Wagenen Fellowship is offered for post-residency study in a foreign country for a period of 12 months. In 2008, the award stipend was increased from $60,000 to the present $120,000, with an additional $15,000 awarded to the host university, lab or program to help defray research, education and investigation costs for the 12-month fellowship.

"The Van Wagenen Fellowship will provide Dr. Tate with a unique opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder with a world renowned neurosurgeon in France, both in the operating room and in the clinic," said Dr. William F. Chandler, Chairman of the Van Wagenen Committee and a former Van Wagenen Fellow. "As it did for me many years ago, the Van Wagenen Fellowship will provide Dr. Tate with insights into European neurosurgery and a wonderful boost to the beginning of his academic career."