Nearly every week of the year we are joined by inspired fellows and dedicated faculty from all over the world, sharing OMI’s mission of medicine beyond borders. We have achieved much and certainly have a lot to celebrate throughout our 30+ years history. This week, from March 2 to 8, 2025, it was Neurology’s turn to celebrate three decades with us!
In these 30 years, we provided hundreds of fully covered fellowships for neurologists from over 50 countries. Beyond the seminar weeks, we celebrate three decades of growing impact not only in the lives of fellows and their patients, but also in brain health worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), brain health can be defined as “the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders”. In WHO’s “Optimizing Brain Health Across the Life Course” position paper, expert Anja Minheere mentions “Lack of brain health is often invisible […] Brain Health affects us all. Not only the person with a brain condition, but also their family, friends, colleagues, etc.”
The global burden associated with brain health is significantly higher in countries in economic transition. The World Health Organization reports that over 70% of people with neurological disorders reside in low and middle-income countries. In 1993, the OMI was created with the intention of developing medical education of countries in transition. This week, our mission remained stronger than ever.
In the ambitious endeavor of promoting excellent brain health care beyond borders, we were fortunate to count with an equally excellent team. As course director, we welcomed Dr. Joshua Weaver, assistant professor of neurology and assistant dean of student affairs at Weill Cornell Medicine. Also from Cornell, we were joined by Dr. Silky Singh Pahlajani, assistant professor of neuropsychiatry research in radiology, and Dr. Mary L. Vo, faculty of Cornell’s department of neurology and assistant professor of neurology at the Houston Methodist hospital.
Dr. Weaver summarized this year’s course stating that “[it] covered a wide range of topics including cognitive and memory disorders, neuromuscular disorders, neurogenetics, pain management, seizures, stroke, and inflammatory disorders of the central and peripheral nervous system.” The Neurology seminars count with a recently updated 3-year curriculum, in which different subdivisions of the core area are presented. Dr. Weaver shares that “[…] the rotating curriculum ensures a unique learning experience covering the breadth and depth of neurological disorders each year.”
As the course’s co-director, OMI long-time supporter Dr. Eugen Trinka joined us for the 18th time this year. Dr. Trinka is an outstanding professional whose journey inspires the OMI and those fortunate to be under his mentorship, having served as president of the Austrian society for neurology, the Austrian society of neurophysiology, the Austrian epilepsy society, and as an executive board member of the international league against epilepsy. Dr. Trinka invited eight local colleagues to join him at the Neurology seminar this year: Drs. Bernard Ganser, Julia Hoefler, Nele E. Kappeller, Monika Killer-Oberpfalzer, Giorgi Kuchukhidze, Georg Pilz, Richard Radlberger, and Isabella Schaller.
Quynh Vo, MD
OMI fellow from Vietnam
Elza Balian, MD
OMI fellow from Armenia
Aleksandra Angelova, MD
OMI fellow from North Macedonia
As conveyed by Dr. Quynh Vo, this week’s seminar was indeed part of our global effort to improve brain health education worldwide. The OMI extends a heartfelt thank you to all faculty from Weill Cornell and the General Hospital of Salzburg, and we look forward to another 30 years of partnership!
