Chandra claims top honors at AANS meeting
Ankush Chandra, MD, fifth-year resident in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, earned top honors at the 2025 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting, one of the largest neurosurgical gatherings in the world with over 5,000 attendees.
Chandra was selected to deliver a Plenary Presentation – a premiere designation awarded to the top seven abstracts globally out of over 3,700 submissions to the meeting. His talk, based on cutting-edge translational research in glioblastoma, was recognized with the Synaptive Preuss Brain Tumor Research Award, which honors the most outstanding brain tumor research presented by a resident or fellow.
His abstract, conducted in collaboration with Hui-Wen Lo, PhD, professor of neurosurgery, explores a novel oncogenic transcription factor, tGLI1, and its role in driving tumor aggressiveness and resistance to standard chemoradiation in glioblastoma. The research team identified how tGLI1 promotes tumor growth and survival, and importantly, developed a novel combination therapy that targets this pathway to overcome treatment resistance.
“Being selected for a Plenary Talk and receiving the Preuss Award at the same meeting is an incredible honor,” Chandra said. “I’m deeply grateful to my mentors for their unwavering guidance and to my family for their constant support. None of this would be possible without the people who have believed in me and challenged me to grow – this recognition belongs just as much to them.”
In addition to these major honors, Chandra also received the Best Poster Award for his collaborative project with Manish Aghi, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of neurosurgery at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. The project analyzed factors associated with matching into top-ranked neurosurgery residency programs. The study sheds light on trends in the neurosurgery match and offers data-driven guidance for future applicants.
Chandra earned his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine, graduating with Research Distinction. He has been awarded multiple research grants, including the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship, which enabled him to spend a dedicated research year in Aghi’s lab studying the tumor microenvironment and its role in drug resistance in glioblastoma.
“This honor is more than just a milestone – it’s a reminder of why I entered this field,” Chandra said. “Each breakthrough brings us a step closer to changing the outlook for patients with glioblastoma. I’m driven to keep asking hard questions, advancing the science, and building a future where these tumors are not a life sentence but a challenge we’re equipped to overcome.”