The Charles A. and Patsy W. Collat Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery, Mark N. Hadley, M.D., a senior neurosurgeon in the UAB Department of Neurosurgery at the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine was recently honored by the Southern Neurosurgical Society as the William Henry Hudson Lecturer at their 73rd Annual Meeting.  
 
The SNS Hudson Lectureship is a prestigious honor named after William Henry Hudson, M.D., (1841-1922), a renown southern neurosurgeon. Hudson traveled around Georgia and eastern Alabama by car and train offering his skills to countless patients in need. He was considered to be the first "southern neurosurgeon.” He invented new strategies and tools to treat neurosurgical patients and is known for the Hudson Brace, a device used to relieve pressure in the brain and eliminate hematomas compressing the brain. Created to honor Hudson’s contributions, the SNS lectureship is awarded annually to a neurosurgeon who has practiced in the South and has a legacy of innovation, technical prowess and unrivaled clinical outcomes.
 
“Since the inception of the Hudson Lectureship in 1975, virtually all of the individuals selected to serve the Society in this mentorship role were or are luminary contributors to our specialty and internationally recognized leaders in neurosurgery,” said Hadley. “It is a great honor for me to be included among them as the 2023 William Henry Hudson Lecturer of the Southern Neurosurgical Society.” 
 
The 2023 SNS meeting, led by SNS President JD Day, M.D., was held in Marco Island, FL in February 2023. The Southern Neurosurgical Society is the third largest neurosurgical member society in the U.S. and its annual meeting gathers neurosurgeons and allied health professionals from across the South. The meeting features plenary educational sessions, scientific presentations, exhibits and exhibitors and networking opportunities for attendees.
 
Hadley remarks on the similarities between Hudson and James Garber Galbraith, M.D., the first chair of UAB Neurosurgery. “The beloved and accomplished Dr. James Garber Galbraith practiced similarly to Hudson. Galbraith treated patients in Birmingham, the state of Alabama and the region, often traveling to patients in need by automobile,” says Hadley. “Decades later, Dr. Galbraith was influential in recruiting me to UAB in 1990. He served as a friend, colleague and mentor. Coincidentally, Dr, Galbraith was the president of the Southern Neurosurgical Society in 1956 – the year I was born!”