Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Associate professor
Universidad de la Sabana, Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
Dr. Ghotme, MD, Ph.D., was born in Colombia into a migrant Lebanese family. He graduated with honors from medical school and neurosurgery at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota and was trained in pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada. Additionally, he graduated in bioethics at Universidad de La Sabana and clinical research at Harvard Medical School. He completed doctoral studies in translational health sciences at George Washington University. His doctoral dissertation developed, assessed, and disseminated a knowledge transfer strategy to strengthen food fortification policies in Latin America to prevent neural tube defects. He currently practices at Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota, one of the top-performing hospitals in Latin America, and is an associate professor and director of the Translational Neuroscience Lab at UniSabana, ranked among the best 50 young universities globally. He has been a speaker at many scientific courses and conferences and the author of different publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Ghotme is a founding member of the Latin American Association of Pediatric Neurosurgery, associate editor of the Global Neurosurgery section of Neurosurgery®, chairman of the ISPN Advocacy Committee, and member of the WHO-WFNS Liaison Committee. He was awarded the Clinical Research Scholar Award, the best Group Project Award by Harvard Medical School, the Innovation and Inspiration in Teaching Award by UniSabana, and the Prize for Humanism in Medical Practice by Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá. As a GAPSBiF member, Dr. Ghotme co-leads several initiatives to prevent congenital malformations through food fortification worldwide. Dr. Ghotme is married to Raya Fakih, and together they have four children: Najwa, Layal, Ahmed, and Salma.
Folic Acid Fortification to Prevent Spina Bifida: A Labor of Love and a Public Health Mandate
Friday, April 21, 2023
2:05pm – 2:20pm PST
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose