mission:BRAIN is proud to introduce our 2026 WINS Scholars, two women building neurosurgical capacity, training the next generation, and widening access to care in their regions.
Dr. Madona Akhobadze
Head of Neurosurgery · Tbilisi, Georgia
Dr. Akhobadze is the youngest board-certified female neurosurgeon in Georgia. She is also the country's youngest and only female Head of a Neurosurgery Department. She was the first Georgian female neurosurgeon to complete Spinal Neurosurgery (EANS 2024) and Vascular Neurosurgery (EANS 2025) training with the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies. She serves as an international moderator for the Izmir Online Neurosurgery educational platform.
She earned her MD with excellence from Tbilisi State Medical University in 2016 and completed her neurosurgery residency in 2023. She has lectured at New Vision University since 2019 and has been an Assistant Professor in neurosciences since 2022. She treats pediatric and adult patients at Georgian-Dutch Hospital and Iashvili Central Children's Hospital, and she is pursuing double PhDs in Neurosurgery and Educational Sciences. She has trained in France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Romania. She is a committed educator and mentor to the next generation of medical professionals.
Dr. Zamzam Aberuka, MBChB
Neurosurgery Resident · Alexandria University, Egypt
Dr. Aberuka is a Ugandan neurosurgery resident and postgraduate Master's student in the Department of Neurosurgery at Alexandria University. She also represents the university's international postgraduate students. Her clinical and academic interests are pediatric neurosurgery, spine surgery and global neurosurgery. Her focus is on strengthening neurosurgical capacity, advancing surgical education and promoting equitable access to specialized care across Africa.
She serves as Vice President of the International Student Global Neurosurgery Network (ISGN) Residents Chapter. She is also developing STEPS-Africa (Surgical Treatment, Education, and Policy Systems – Africa), an initiative to advance neurosurgical care, training, research and rehabilitation in Uganda. Through mission:BRAIN, she is committed to mentoring emerging neurosurgeons, particularly those from underrepresented and resource-limited settings.
Congratulations
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Akhobadze and Dr. Aberuka. We look forward to supporting their work this year.
