One of the distinctive strengths of the CNS Annual Meeting is its ability to bring together the full breadth of neurosurgery in one setting. Because the meeting is designed to reflect the entirety of the specialty, it creates a unique opportunity for collaborative sessions that cross traditional subspecialty boundaries and focus on problems that cannot be fully addressed from a single point of view. Many of the most important clinical questions in neurosurgery now sit at the intersection of multiple fields, and the Annual Meeting provides the ideal forum for those conversations.
The CNS has long maintained collaborative relationships both within neurosurgery and with multidisciplinary partner organizations in adjacent fields. This year’s collaborative symposia reflect that spirit especially well. Some sessions bring together CNS sections whose expertise naturally overlaps in the care of complex patients, while others extend beyond the organization through partnerships with outside societies such as the North American Skull Base Society (NASBS) and the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS). Together, these symposia embody the 2026 meeting theme, Evolution, by showing how subspecialties are converging around shared challenges and how joint approaches can lead to more nuanced decision-making, better outcomes, and richer educational experiences.
Neuromodulation for Stroke Recovery (SYM03A)
Course Director: Jonathan Russin
SYM03A, “Neuromodulation for Stroke Recovery,” is a collaboration between the cerebrovascular and functional neurosurgery sections. This symposium will explore how advances in neuromodulation are opening new possibilities for patients with persistent deficits after ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Faculty will review the current evidence base, emerging trial data, and practical considerations in patient selection, target choice, and timing of intervention.
The session highlights exactly why collaborative programming matters. Stroke recovery does not fit neatly within a single subspecialty lens; it requires an understanding of vascular disease, neuroplasticity, rehabilitation, and the evolving capabilities of functional neurosurgery. By bringing cerebrovascular and functional perspectives together, the symposium aims to give attendees a realistic view of where neuromodulation fits into the broader stroke recovery landscape today and where the field may be headed next.
Decision-Making and Modern Approaches in Epilepsy Surgery (SYM03B)
Course Directors: John Rolston, Hannah Goldstein
SYM03B, “Decision-Making and Modern Approaches in Epilepsy Surgery,” brings together the pediatrics and functional sections to tackle some of the most challenging questions in epilepsy care. The symposium will highlight how evolving imaging, monitoring, and minimally invasive techniques are changing the decision tree for both children and adults with medically refractory epilepsy.
Topics will include preoperative evaluation, the role of invasive monitoring, selection among resection, disconnection, and neuromodulation options, and how to counsel patients and families about risks, benefits, and long-term expectations. The collaboration between pediatric and functional specialists reflects the reality that epilepsy care often spans the lifespan and requires a unified approach to cognitive outcomes, development, and quality of life. This is exactly the type of cross-cutting topic that benefits from being discussed in a forum designed around the specialty as a whole.
Management of TBI and SCI in the Setting of Severe Polytrauma and in the Austere Environment (SYM02B)
Course Directors: Deb Stein, Randy Bell
SYM02B, “Management of TBI and SCI in the Setting of Severe Polytrauma and in the Austere Environment,” is a joint effort between the trauma and spine sections. This symposium focuses on scenarios in which neurosurgeons must care for patients with traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury in the context of major multisystem trauma, limited resources, or nontraditional care settings.
Faculty will address priority setting, staging of interventions, and communication within multidisciplinary trauma teams, with particular attention to environments where ideal resources are not immediately available. Discussions will include practical strategies for imaging, monitoring, operative decision-making, and transfer, as well as the ethical and logistical challenges of practicing in austere or remote settings. Because these cases rarely respect subspecialty boundaries, the value of bringing trauma and spine experts together is especially clear.
Advances in Spine Oncology (SYM04B)
Course Directors: Daniel Sciubba, John O’Toole, John Chi
SYM04B, “Advances in Spine Oncology,” is a collaboration between the spine and tumor sections. This symposium will provide an updated overview of the rapidly evolving management of primary and metastatic spine tumors, emphasizing integrated decision-making across surgery, radiation, and systemic therapies.
Attendees can expect discussion of contemporary classification systems, risk-stratification tools, and scoring frameworks that guide whether, when, and how to operate. The session will highlight techniques ranging from minimally invasive decompression and stabilization to more extensive oncologic resections, alongside the growing role of stereotactic radiosurgery and targeted therapies. By combining spine and tumor perspectives, the symposium will showcase how multidisciplinary planning improves both oncologic control and mechanical stability while helping patients maintain function and quality of life.
Evolution of Skull Base Surgery: From Radical Exposure to Precision Convergence (Special Symposium 06)
Course Directors: Madison Michael, Paul A. Gardner, Daniel M. Prevedello, Siviero Agazzi
Special Symposium 06, “Evolution of Skull Base Surgery: From Radical Exposure to Precision Convergence,” is a collaboration between the CNS and the NASBS, continuing a valued partnership in an area where multidisciplinary exchange is especially important. This session will trace the trajectory of skull base surgery from large, open approaches to today’s more focused, often less invasive strategies that integrate microsurgery, endoscopy, and radiosurgery.
A multidisciplinary faculty will review how advances in imaging, navigation, and endoscopic visualization have allowed surgeons to tailor exposure more precisely to pathology while minimizing collateral tissue disruption. Through case presentations, video demonstrations, and structured comparisons of alternative approaches, the symposium will highlight how neurosurgeons and skull base colleagues now converge on surgical plans that balance maximal safe resection with functional preservation. This collaboration with NASBS reflects the importance of learning across societies in areas where shared expertise benefits patients most directly.
CNS–SRS Symposium on Spinal Deformity (Special Symposium 05)
Course Directors: Jeffrey Mullin, Joseph Osorio, Alexander Tuchman
Special Symposium 05, the “CNS–SRS Symposium on Spinal Deformity,” reflects another important collaboration with an outside society, the SRS, building on a partnership that has already enriched Annual Meeting programming. This joint session will focus on complex spinal deformity from both neurosurgical and orthopedic perspectives, emphasizing shared principles rather than rigid specialty boundaries.
The program will cover alignment goals, radiographic assessment, indications for surgery, and strategies to mitigate complications in adult and, where relevant, younger patients. Faculty will use casebased discussions to illustrate how deformity care often requires coordinated input from surgeons with complementary backgrounds and how thoughtful collaboration can improve planning, execution, and long-term follow-up. By design, the symposium is meant to be valuable not only to deformity specialists but also to neurosurgeons whose practices increasingly include patients with significant alignment issues.
Neuromodulation for Pain: From Head to Toe (SYM14B)
Course Directors: Rushna Ali, Kunal Gupta
SYM14B, “Neuromodulation for Pain: From Head to Toe,” is a collaboration between the pain and functional sections. This symposium will survey the expanding role of neuromodulation in treating refractory pain syndromes across cranial, spinal, and peripheral domains.
Topics include patient selection, target choice, and emerging indications for cranial, spinal cord, and peripheral nerve stimulation, as well as practical considerations such as trialing strategies, hardware selection, and long-term management. By integrating pain and functional perspectives, the session will highlight how neuromodulation can be thoughtfully incorporated into multidisciplinary pain care and how neurosurgeons can work effectively with pain specialists, rehabilitation teams, and other colleagues to optimize outcomes.
Across all of these sessions, the common thread is not simply collaboration for its own sake, but collaboration in service of better thinking and better care. The Annual Meeting’s broad scope makes it possible to convene these conversations in a way that reflects the full complexity of contemporary neurosurgery. In that sense, the collaborative symposia are not peripheral to the meeting’s mission; they are one of the clearest expressions of it.