Asad Lak

Neurosurgery resident @IowaNeurosurg |Former Post Doctoral Research Fellow @BWHNeurosurgery @HarvardMed |Graduate @kemuofficial | Married to @NoorusabahAhmad

[Asad Lak @asad_lak]

Excited to spend the next 7 years @IowaNeurosurg. Grateful to mentors at @harvardmed, @BWHCNOC, @BWHNeurosurgery and @IowaNeurosurg!
#MatchDay2022 #MedTwitter

[Faisal Sultan @fslsltn]

Proud moment for #ShaukatKhanum Lahore. Our Internal Medicine residency training programme has achieved #ACGME International accreditation, delivering the same rigorous standards of training as in the USA. Only the second institution in Pakistan to earn this recognition

[Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office @amnestysasia]

PAKISTAN: Ahead of the third anniversary of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ongoing detention, Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia, said:

“For three years, Pakistan’s authorities have systematically denied Imran Khan the right to a fair trial, subjected him to prolonged solitary confinement, and limited his access to medical care and visitation rights. He has not been allowed to meet his family for more than eight months and his vision has reportedly deteriorated significantly. Both he and his wife, Bushra Bibi Khan, have now been denied regular access to legal counsel since December 2025."

Read more: https://t.co/hc6eKnIITh

[NRCDP_K12 @NRCDP_K12]

Please join us on Tuesday, 8/18th for the 2026 NRCDP Webinar Series 4! Dr. Matthew Howard will lead a session on "Preparing for a Career as a New Neurosurgeon-Scientist and How to Optimize Your Relationships with Your Chair, Mentors, and Collaborators”

https://t.co/OZ4ymr8P99

[Lea Alhilali, MD @teachplaygrub]

1/I always say you can tell a bad read on a spine MR if it doesn’t talk about lateral recesses.

What will I think when I see your read? Do you rate lateral recess stenosis?

Here’s a thread on lateral recess anatomy & a grading system for lateral recess stenosis

[Lea Alhilali, MD @teachplaygrub]

1/Time is brain! But what time is it?

If you don’t know the time of stroke onset, are you able to deduce it from imaging?

Here’s a thread to help you date a stroke on MRI!

[WashU Med Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery @WashUNeurosurg]

This past weekend, Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology hosted the annual Anterior Skull Base Course, bringing together trainees and expert faculty for hands-on training in open and endoscopic skull base techniques.

Thank you to all who participated!

[Asad Lak @asad_lak]

Unfortunate reality of today’s world. Grateful for all the people taking care of these patients.

[A. Basit Khan, MD @abkhan_md]

Proud to contribute to our study on pediatric penetrating brain injury in Gaza. A look at the devastating toll of conflict on children, and the resilience of surgeons caring for them amid resource limitations. https://t.co/UtQu5JbSxA @DrMohAsfa @JoakimStray @andreassen_geir

[Asad Lak @asad_lak]

What is your differential diagnosis in a patient with pigmented skin lesion and multiple intradural contrast enhancing lesions? Check out this interesting case from @IowaNeurosurg for further details. @spinesection @AANSNeuro @CNS_Update

[JAMA Oncology @JAMAOnc]

A 60-year-old woman presented with progressive right lower extremity radiculopathy and numbness, a pigmented skin lesion on the right side of the chest, and right ankle jerk reflex.

What is your diagnosis? https://t.co/s0f7Of2yj2

[Mani Ratnesh Sandhu @maniratneshSS]

Thrilled to welcome our newest #Neurosurgery residents to @IowaNeurosurg!

We’re excited to have you join our team this summer—looking forward to working together

@AANSNeuro @TheNRMP

[Howard Luks MD @hjluks]

Thirty Years of Ortho: What I’d Tell the Next Generation
I’ve been an orthopedic surgeon for three decades. Long enough to see techniques come and go, implants rise and fall, and the pendulum of “standard practice” swing back and forth more times than I can count.

What hasn’t changed are the pressures that come with the job… and the quiet lessons you don’t fully understand until you’ve liv,ed them.

If I were talking to the next generation—residents, fellows, the young attendings just getting their legs under them… this is what I’d tell them.

You can’t build a meaningful career on RVUs. You can meet every target and still feel empty. A career that lasts is built on trust, judgment, and relationships. You don’t measure that in productivity metrics.

A good surgeon listens more than they talk. People think surgery is a technical field, but the real work is in understanding what someone is actually asking of you. Most patients are just scared. They don’t need your scalpel, no matter what the MRI shows. Half the mistakes in this profession start with bad listening.

Master the anatomy. Master the craft. But learn the limits too. Early in your career, you’re focused on what you can do. With experience, you start to appreciate what you shouldn’t do. Judgment is a superpower.

Protect your time, or the system will take every minute you allow it to.

Learn to say no!!! There’s no shortage of demands. Notes. Inboxes. Meetings. Every one of them feels urgent. Some of you might actually feel important when you go to meetings... But... None of them is worth sacrificing your sanity or the people waiting for you at home.

Seek colleagues, not titles. Promotions and committee seats feel important for a season, but it’s just fluff, and nothing gets accomplished in those meetings anyway.

Your strength matters more than you realize. Not your technical strength—your physical and emotional strength. You can’t take care of people if your own health fades. Move, lift, sleep, and protect your energy. A worn-out surgeon becomes brittle.

Be the doctor you’d want for your family.

You need a life outside the operating room if you want a long life inside it. The surgeons who last aren’t the ones who work the most—they’re the ones who stay grounded. They have people they care about, interests that pull them away from medicine, and enough perspective to know that identity and work are not the same thing.

Thirty years in, the operations are only part of the story. What keeps you going is the purpose behind the work—helping people move, reassuring them when they’re scared, giving them back pieces of their life.
That’s the part that never gets old.

[NS Tumor Section @NSTumorSection]

Are you a neuro-oncology trainee or early-career neurosurgeon eager to share your research? Submit your work for the upcoming Limelight Webinar January 12, 2026 4-5pm EST
Abstract Submission Link: https://t.co/v4jA464BNh
Webinar Registration: https://t.co/lhRnRiosfe

[Carver College of Medicine @IowaMed]

Craniosynostosis causes infants’ skulls to close prematurely, with more than 40 genes believed to be involved. @uiowa researchers have successfully zeroed in on one. Raed more about their discovery: https://t.co/zVf1Rbm7JE

[Carver College of Medicine @IowaMed]

🌍 MD students Allison Dodds and Mei Lietsch spent eight weeks in Lusaka, Zambia, researching spina bifida through the Pediatric Neurosurgery Department at the University Teaching Hospital. Their work focused on antibiotic resistance and prenatal diagnostic challenges.

[UNMC Department of Neurosurgery @UNMC_NeuroSurg]

Come join us! We are hosting the 2025 Midwest #Neurosurgical Society Annual Meeting on 🗓️August 16th with guest speaker, Dr. Jay Wellons! Registration closes soon! ✉️Email [email protected] for registration information!

[Mario Zanaty @ZanatyMario]

We are looking for collaborators for a multi-center trial to test the efficacy of this technique for spontaneous CSF leak not due to CSF-venous fistulas

[Arslan Khan MD FACP @Arslaninayat]

Pakistan is the third largest country providing IMG doctors to the US. Source FSMB ! #FSMB #USMLE #IMG

[Virtual Global Spine Conference @virtualspine]

Join us on July 3rd, 2025, at 6:00 PM ET for a compelling session with Dr. Park from @NeurosurgeryOSU as he presents the latest advancements and technical refinements in #minimally #invasive #TLIF—a must-attend for #spine and neurosurgical professionals.
https://t.co/cRlpVBov2Z

[Asad Lak @asad_lak]

Congratulations to two amazing chief residents on graduating neurosurgery residency. Very grateful for all the teaching, mentorship and humor despite those long hours. ⁦@IowaNeurosurg⁩

[Dr Ahmad Rehan Khan @AhmadRehanKhan]

𝗝𝟭 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗗:
On May 27, the U.S. Department of State issued an order to temporarily pause all student visa processing to allow for enhanced vetting of applicants’ social media activity. Initially, many—including myself—assumed this would not apply to J-1 physicians, as they are not traditional students. However, an email sent by ECFMG to TPL confirms that this pause does, in fact, include J-1 physicians.

𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 @ECFMG_J1 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗝-𝟭 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

This decision has serious implications for the U.S. healthcare system. Approximately 16,000 physicians currently work in the U.S. on J-1 visas. Of the 9,761 international medical graduates (IMGs) expected to begin residency training on July 1, a significant proportion will require J-1 visas. Without their timely arrival, patient care and staffing at numerous hospitals could be severely disrupted.

I strongly urge the @POTUS and @secrubio to review this matter urgently. I also call on @ECFMG_IMG, @AAMCtoday, @AmerMedicalAssn, @TheFSMB @Intealth and all other stakeholders to begin immediate advocacy, as time is running out.

#Match2026 #USMLE #imgs #MedTwitter #MedEd #MedX #J1visa #DonaldTrump #DOS

[NS Tumor Section @NSTumorSection]

Don't miss the first webinar on Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery on May19, 2025 at 7:30 EST/1:30am CEST/ 4:30am PKT
register now

https://t.co/SbE6pelDq9

@AANSNeuro @noorulhudamaria