Pittsburgh, February 29, 2024 -- Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD, Nancy A. Keegan and Donald R. Voelte Jr. Chair in Neurosurgery at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine, presented a lecture entitled "Sleep in Parkinson’s Disease: Clinical and Research Implications," Wednesday, February 28, as part of the third annual Dorothy Klenke Nash Lectureship at the University of Pittsburgh. During her visit, Dr. Abosch also spent time discussing cases with residents and later gave a second presentation on her career in academic neurosurgery at a special reception and dinner in her honor at Pittsburgh's Duquesne Club.
Dr. Abosch was the inaugural department chair at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine and serves as a professor and as co-director of Nebraska Medicine Neurosciences Services.
The Dorothy Klenke Nash Lectureship is held in honor of the first female neurosurgeon to practice in the United States. Dr. Nash practiced at Presbyterian University Hospital and other Pittsburgh area hospitals from the 1940s through the 1960s and served as an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She led the neurosurgical service at Presby for a short time when the founding father of neurosurgery in Pittsburgh, Stuart Niles Rowe, MD, served in World War II, designating Dr. Nash to lead in his absence.
A big advocate of women in medicine, Dr. Nash actively encouraged women to pursue careers in the field, providing vocational lectures aimed toward female students at the University of Pittsburgh. She was also extensively involved in volunteer activities in a number of areas including cerebral palsy and mental illness. A recipient of numerous awards throughout her career, Dr. Nash was honored by the Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania for her outstanding achievements in brain surgery in 1953 and she was recognized as one of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s ten women of the year in 1957.