The history of neurosurgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center

The Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center has grown considerably from one neurosurgeon in 1923 into a first-class department with diverse subspecialty care and innovative faculty. Founding neurosurgeon Dr. J. Jay Keegan, a student of Harvey Cushing, instituted a legacy of clinical and research excellence that he passed on to his successors. The department created a lecture series to honor Keegan’s pioneering techniques and impact in the field, featuring prominent neurosurgeons from across the country. Keegan’s successors, such as Dr. Lyal Leibrock, grew the department through a unique partnership with private practice. The current faculty has continued the tradition of exceptional resident training and innovative patient care.

An Interesting and Productive Research and Clinical Career

To begin, I wish to thank the Academy of Toxicological Sciences for bestowing this honor on me. I have had a rewarding career in basic research and clinical medicine, beginning with research in high school and always planning on becoming a physician. I have had the good fortune of having outstanding mentors, wonderful parents, and a supportive and intuitive wife and family. This article provides a brief overview of some of the events of my career and individuals who have played a major role, beginning with the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin, pathology residency and faculty at St. Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts, a year as visiting professor at Nagoya City University, and my career at the University of Nebraska Medical Center since 1981. This could not have happened without the strong input and support from these individuals, the numerous students, residents and fellows with whom I have learned so much, and the more than 500 terrific collaborators.

Gaps in affiliation indexing in Scopus and PubMed

Objective: The authors sought to determine whether unexpected gaps existed in Scopus’s author affiliation indexing of publications written by the University of Nebraska Medical Center or Nebraska Medicine (UNMC/NM) authors during 2014.Methods: First, we compared Scopus affiliation identifier search results to PubMed affiliation keyword search results. Then, we searched Scopus using affiliation keywords (UNMC, etc.) and compared the results to PubMed affiliation keyword and Scopus affiliation identifier searches.Results: We found that Scopus’s records for approximately 7% of UNMC/NM authors’ publications lacked appropriate UNMC/NM author affiliation identifiers, and many journals’ publishers were supplying incomplete author affiliation information to PubMed.Conclusions: Institutions relying on Scopus to track their impact should determine whether Scopus’s affiliation identifiers will, in fact, identify all articles published by their authors and investigators.

Radiation Therapy Improves Survival Outcome in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Comparison of a 15-Year Institutional Experience at the University of Nebraska Medical Center with SEER Data

Objectives. We examined the role of radiation therapy (RT) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) treatment through a 15-year retrospective analysis of patients treated at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) as well as those from the SEER database. Methods. A total of 561 patients diagnosed with PA at UNMC between 1995 and 2011 and 60,587 patients diagnosed between 1995 and 2009 from the SEER were included. Examined prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were age, gender, race, stage, year of diagnosis, and treatment with surgery, chemotherapy (CT), or RT. Time to death was plotted by Kaplan-Meier method. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate prognostic factors for OS. Results. The median OS was 7.3 and 5 months for patients from UNMC and the SEER database, respectively. A Cox model of patients from UNMC showed that RT was associated with improved OS (HR 0.77, P=0.018) after adjusting for factors including age, race, gender, stage, year of diagnosis, having surgery, or having CT. Cox analysis of patients from the SEER showed similar results (HR 0.65, P<0.0001). Conclusions. RT confers an independent survival advantage in patients being treated for PA which is apparent both at UNMC and through SEER data.