Saint Mary's students meet top neurosurgeon

Saint Mary's students Kilian Gordon, Samuel Callisto and Alexander Thomas with Dr. Garnette Sutherland.

Thomas and Gordon — joined by Roger Saindon '77 — listen to a presentation on the functional MRI facility at United Hospital.

Tim Bollig of United Hospital gives a tour of a neurosurgery operating room fitted with intraoperative MRI.

On Feb. 24 Saint Mary’s junior Sam Callisto, freshmen Alexander Thomas and Killian Gordon, and Biology assistant professor Dr. Casey Finnerty traveled to United Hospital in St. Paul, to attend a lecture delivered by Garnette Sutherland, M.D., one of the world’s most gifted neurosurgeons.

Dr. Sutherland is a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and with his team he is pioneering the use of robotics and intraoperative MRI in neurosurgery through research that spans medicine, computer science, engineering and cell biology.

Dr. Sutherland’s use of robotics is extending the limits of precision in surgery. With industrial partners he has developed the first surgical robot capable of operating within the core of an MRI machine, allowing surgeons to operate with the guidance of MRI real-time images.

Following Dr. Sutherland’s presentation, the Saint Mary’s group participated in an extensive tour of United Hospital’s neurosurgery units where they saw the functional MRI facility, surgical robots and the hospital's $14 million intraoperative MRI facility. Afterward, the they were able to converse with Dr. Sutherland about his talk and ask questions.

“These students have an interest in neuroscience, so meeting one of the world’s top neurosurgeons was a tremendous opportunity,” said Dr. Finnerty. “They asked some great questions! And I was really appreciative of the time Dr. Sutherland took to speak with our students. Meeting people who work at the frontier of human achievement excites your imagination and inspires you to do the hard work needed to reach your dreams, and I think such excitement and inspiration is critical to student success.

“We even had the pleasure of meeting a Saint Mary’s alumnus and biology major, Mr. Roger Saindon ’77, on our hospital tour. I find I run into Saint Mary’s alumni all the time!”

The group thanks Dr. Larry Kuusisto, vice president of Education and executive director of the Alley Institute for making their attendance possible, and to Timothy Bollig and others at United Hospital for giving them such an outstanding tour of the neurosurgery imaging and surgical units. Video of Dr. Sutherland is available at this link: http://bit.ly/hqbfEn.