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CC BY 4.0 · WFNS Journal 2025; 02(01): e114-e121
DOI: 10.1055/a-2737-7914
Original Article

World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Young Neurosurgeons Survey: An Assessment of the Global Neurosurgery Research Environment, Capacity, Output and Barriers

Autoren

  • Nqobile S. Thango

    1   Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
    2   Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

  • Ronnie E. Baticulon

    3   Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosciences, Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines

  • Ernest J. Barthélemy

    4   Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, United States

  • Joaquín Pérez Zabala

    5   Neurosurgery Department Buenos Aires, Juan P. Garrahan Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina

  • Sachin Chemate

    6   Department of Neurosurgery, Noble Hospitals, Pune, India

  • Sarah Cain

    7   Department of Neurosurgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

  • Laura Lippa

    8   Department of Neurosurgery, ASST Ospedale Niguarda, Milan, Italy

  • Tracey Arendse

    1   Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
    9   National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South African Field Epidemiology Programme, Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Franco Servadei

    10   Department of Neurosurgery, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center—IRCCS, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy

  • Angelos Kolias

    11   Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Addenbrooke's Hospital and University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom

  • Ursula K. Rohlwink   *

    1   Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
    2   Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

  • Ignatius N. Esene   *

    12   Neurosurgery Division, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Cameroon
    • WFNS Young Neurosurgeons Committee
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Abstract

Background

The largest neurosurgical disease burden is found within low-and-middle-income countries. Despite this, a gap exists between the burden of disease and research output. This study explored the global neurosurgical research environment, with regards to capacity and output. We also explored the structural barriers to conducting research.

Methods

In this cross-sectional survey, we examined the global neurosurgical research environment by collecting data from neurosurgeons and trainees from six continental regions. The survey was conducted in five languages and stratified to the following themes: demographics, research capacity, research output, and barriers to participating in research.

Results

A total of 565 responses were received, and participants were split equally across trainees and consultants. The median years of practice was 8 years, and 60.2% of respondents worked at government hospitals with a university affiliation. The research databases available reflect the current neurosurgical disease burden, although only 81.6% have science and ethics approval. The biggest barriers to conducting research were the availability of human resources (68.4%) and time (62.9%).

Conclusion

The study reports on the current global neurosurgical research environment. The results show that the majority of neurosurgeons (98.2%) believe conducting research is important. Despite the challenges, there is a hunger to grow academic neurosurgery globally.

Keywords

education - global neurosurgery - research capacity - research equity - young neurosurgeons

* These authors share senior authorship.


** The details of the committee are given in the [ Supplementary Appendix ] (available in the online version only).


Supplementary Material



Publikationsverlauf

Accepted Manuscript online:
06. November 2025

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
24. November 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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