Yifei Sun, a second-year medical student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, was recently awarded the Timothy George Award at the 2024 AANS/CNS Joint Pediatric Section Annual Meeting.

The Timothy George Award, named in honor of the late Timothy George, M.D., celebrates outstanding research and dedication to advancing pediatric neurosurgery.

Sun was recognized for his abstract, “Neighborhood Level Socioeconomic Status is Associated with Pediatric Hydrocephalus Outcomes: A Cohort Study.” His work examined the relationship between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status and hydrocephalus outcomes in pediatric patients.

“I am incredibly honored to have received this award, and it would not have been possible without the outstanding support and mentoring by Dr. Brandon Rocque, Anastasia Smith, Tori Caudill and the rest of the pediatric neurosurgery team!”

As a research intern in the UAB Department of Neurosurgery, Sun researched factors affecting pediatric patients treated with ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts for hydrocephalus. His study revealed that patients from areas with greater socioeconomic disadvantage were more likely to experience shunt revisions, even after accounting for etiology, or the underlying cause, and comorbidities, or other medical conditions present.

The study offers a new perspective on identifying socioeconomic phenotypes and quantifying how neighborhood disadvantage impacts health outcomes. Sun emphasized the need for further research to explore other factors, such as access to healthcare, to better inform clinical practices and policies.