Post by Shriya Karlapudi

I'm honoured to share that my project won 1st place at the Global Neurology and Neurosurgery Summit 2026 🥇 For the longest time, treating hemimegalencephaly often meant removing half of the brain. My research aims to change this. Hemimegalencephaly involves the overgrowth of half the brain, causing drug-resistant epilepsy in childhood. The earliest surgical procedure for this condition, which is still considered the "gold-standard", is hemispherectomy. This removes entire affected half of the brain. Is this effective in reducing seizures? Yes Does it come with massive complications? Also yes This surgery essentially created a "hole" in the brain where fluid and blood accumulated. Furthermore, children were left with severe neurological deficits. My research changes this picture. This project was a multi-database, PRISMA-compliant systematic review with separate meta-analyses for each surgical approach for hemimegalencephaly. It found that disconnecting the pathways that drive seizures (rather than removing the brain tissue) leads to better seizure outcomes and fewer complications. In other words, children would no longer need to have large parts of their brain taken out. This finding matters, not just statistically, but for every family sitting in a consultation room trying to understand what surgery means for their child. I'm very grateful to have won first place for my oral presentation and to have also presented a poster on this topic. Most importantly, I'm grateful for the opportunity to do meaningful research and to contribute to evidence that might one day shape the conversation between a surgeon and a family. A special thank you to Pranitha Karthikeyan and Nina T. for a wonderful conference. King's College London King's Health Partners King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust King's Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine CSGUL Neurology & Neurosurgery Society #medicine #research #academic #conference #presentation #prize