Each year, FIENS fellowships connect early-career neurosurgeons from low-resource settings with world-class mentors and institutions around the globe. This year’s fellows—hailing from India, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Pakistan—are pursuing specialized training in pediatric neurosurgery, skull base and cerebrovascular surgery, and minimally invasive techniques. From Toronto to Stanford, these opportunities provide critical exposure to advanced surgical practices and research, equipping each fellow to return home with the skills and knowledge needed to elevate neurosurgical care in their communities.
Bengaluru, India → Toronto, Canada
Dr. Kevin Jude Sudevan is a senior neurosurgery resident at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru, India. His fellowship is focused on gaining specialized experience in pediatric hydrocephalus management at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada—one of North America’s leading pediatric neurosurgical centers. Under the mentorship of Dr. Abhaya V. Kulkarni, he aims to deepen his understanding of endoscopic techniques, such as choroid plexus coagulation, and explore best practices in clinical data collection through the hospital’s hydrocephalus registry. This experience will be a vital step toward his goal of strengthening pediatric neurosurgical care and research capacity in India.
Injibara, Ethiopia → Arizona, USA
Dr. Mestet Shiferaw is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Injibara University in Injibara, Ethiopia. His fellowship is designed to address a critical gap in specialized neurosurgical training in low-income settings, where complex skull base tumors are frequently managed by general neurosurgeons without subspecialty expertise. Through advanced training at the Barrow Neurosurgical Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, under the mentorship of Professor Michael T. Lawton, he aims to acquire the technical skills and clinical strategies necessary to reduce surgical complications and improve outcomes. This experience will enable him to return home better equipped to raise the standard of neurosurgical care for underserved patients in Ethiopia.
Khartoum, Sudan → Madison, USA
Dr. Fawaz Eljili M. Abdelradi is a neurosurgery registrar at the National Center for Neurological Sciences (NCNS) in Khartoum, Sudan. His fellowship is aimed at gaining specialized training in skull base and cerebrovascular surgery—areas still underdeveloped in Sudan due to a lack of subspecialized surgeons. Having completed his training in 2023, Dr. Abdelradi seeks this opportunity to build advanced surgical expertise and contribute to the development of high-complexity neurosurgical care in Sudan, especially in the aftermath of the ongoing conflict. He will undertake this fellowship under the mentorship of Professor Mustafa Baskaya at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where he will observe neurosurgical services, participate in surgical neuroanatomy training at the microsurgery laboratory, and be actively involved in neurosurgical education and research.
Karachi, Pakistan → Prescott, USA
Dr. Shabih Ayeshah is a neurosurgeon based in Karachi, Pakistan and is affiliated with RIMS Trauma Hospital. Dr. Ayeshah is the first recipient of the FIENS Kassam Family Fellowship, a fellowship awarded to support promising neurosurgeons from Pakistan.
Her fellowship is driven by a deep commitment to mastering the technically demanding fields of skull base and cerebrovascular surgery—disciplines that represent the highest levels of precision and innovation in neurosurgery. In Pakistan, there are currently no dedicated fellowship programs for these subspecialties, and exposure to complex cases remains limited, even in major tertiary centers. Through this fellowship, Dr. Ayeshah aims to gain advanced surgical training, broaden his clinical exposure, and bring back critical expertise to improve the care of patients with complex neurosurgical conditions who are often left untreated or managed sub optimally. She will pursue this training under the mentorship of Dr. Sam Safavi at Yavapai Medical Center in Prescott, Arizona, USA.
Karachi, Pakistan → Stanford, USA
Dr. Hafiza Fatima Aziz is a neurosurgeon based in Karachi, Pakistan, with a growing clinical focus on complex skull base pathologies and minimally invasive surgical techniques..
She is the recipient of the FIENS Mukhtar A. Sheikh Hospital Fellowship, awarded to support outstanding neurosurgeons committed to advancing neurosurgical care in Pakistan. Dr. Aziz is pursuing this fellowship to gain foundational, hands-on experience in skull base anatomy and surgical approaches in a dedicated lab environment. This opportunity marks a critical first step toward her long-term goal of establishing a skull base surgery program in Pakistan, where such specialized expertise is currently lacking.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Juan Carlos Fernandez-Miranda at the Stanford Medicine NeuroTrain Center, she aims to strengthen her technical skills, contribute to research, and ultimately return with advanced knowledge to improve patient care and help train the next generation of neurosurgeons in her country.
We are committed to keeping you updated on the fellowship reports and the exciting developments of these four young neurosurgeons. Their journey is a testament to their dedication and the future of neurosurgery, and we look forward to sharing their progress and achievements with you. Stay tuned for more updates as they continue to grow and make significant contributions in their field.
