Award of Excellence at the 30th International Conference on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus

During each international conference, the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF) presents the IF Award to an individual or organisation in recognition of their special contribution to the service of people with disabilities in general or to people with hydrocephalus and spina bifida in particular.

In 2024, Prof. Dr. Rick Finnell received the Award of Excellence during the 30th International Conference on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dr. Richard H. Finnell is a Professor in the Center for Precision Environmental Health in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. A pediatric geneticist, he has been involved in investigating genetic susceptibility to environmentally induced birth defects. During his 44+ year career, he has authored over 400 publications in journals such as Science, Nature Genetics, Nature Cell Biology, PNAS and Developmental Cell. His early work with murine embryonic stem cells helped establish the dire consequences of folate deficiency during embryonic development. The Finnell laboratory,  devoted to study preventable birth defects, is focused on developing biomimetic therapies for fetal spina bifida surgery.

Prof. Dr. Finnell is moreover a long time IF advisory and with his keynote presentation ‘The Biology Of Neural Tube Defects: From Prevention Efforts To Stem Cell Therapeutics’, he brought genetics in a new focus during the 30th International Conference on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, October 24 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In recognition of the excellent contributions in the field of neural tube defects and dedication to building further bridges between science and clinical practice, we congratulate Prof. Dr. Rick Finnell for the Award of Excellence 2024.