A milestone for African neurosurgery: Professor Anthony Figaji becomes 51st president of the ISPN
Professor Anthony Figaji, head of Paediatric Neurosurgery at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Red Cross Children’s Hospital, has been inaugurated as President of the International Society for Paediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN). His election represents a major milestone for African neurosurgery and reinforces UCT’s growing global leadership in paediatric brain research and clinical innovation.
Professor Anthony Figaji, a global leader in paediatric neurosurgery and director of the African Brain Child (ABC) initiative, based at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and the University of Cape Town’s Neuroscience Institute, has been inaugurated as President of the International Society for Paediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN) for the 2025–2026 term. The inauguration took place at the ISPN Annual Meeting in Lyon, France, where he succeeded Professor Gianpiero Tamburrini of Rome. In this, he continues the international legacy of paediatric neurosurgery established at UCT through Warwick Peacock, Jonathan Peter, and Graham Fieggen.
The ISPN’s mission is to improve the health and welfare of children requiring neurosurgical care throughout the world via scientific research and close international cooperation. As Professor Figaji noted in his address, this presidency offers a rare opportunity to shape the global agenda of paediatric neurosurgery from Africa, where there are more children needing neurosurgical care than anywhere else in the world. Ensuring the needs of African children remain at the forefront will be a central focus of his presidency.
“My vision is to change the world from within Africa.” - Professor Anthony Figaji
The ISPN is the world’s only professional body dedicated exclusively to paediatric neurosurgery. Its global mandate takes on new significance under a president based on the continent with the highest burden of childhood neurological disease. This does not deter Figaji, however, his ‘vision is to change the world from within Africa.’
A succession of major academic accolades
Professor Figaji’s election to the ISPN presidency arrives at a time of exceptional professional recognition.
In July 2025, he was awarded the Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship for his pioneering research into childhood brain injury. In January 2024, he and his team received a Wellcome Discovery Award for their work on TB meningitis and paediatric brain infections - the first of the Discovery Awards to be awarded to an entirely African research group. That same year, the ABC group earned the NRF Science Team Award for advances in paediatric neuro-critical care and multimodal brain monitoring. This year, he was also elected to the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons. Together, these honours highlight both Figaji’s personal achievements and the growing impact of African neuroscience globally.
Placing children at the agenda’s centre
Africa is the world’s youngest continent, with a median age of approximately 19 years (Worldometer, 2025). For Figaji, this demographic profile underscores both the scale of the clinical need and the transformative potential of improved paediatric, neurosurgical care.
“There are more children needing neurosurgical care in Africa than anywhere else in the world.” - Professor Anthony Figaji
In his presidential message, he highlighted three priorities that will guide his term. First, adopting a global perspective - focusing on linking innovation and expertise with the regions where care is most needed, while simultaneously seizing opportunities for research and training in low-and-middle-income settings. The second, working together - highlighting the power of collaboration, diversity, and shared effort to achieve what individuals cannot achieve alone. The third, holistic care - emphasising all aspects of children’s health, from health advocacy and access to care, to the latest technologies that could revolutionise treatment.
Prof Figaji believes that It is through clinical innovation, cutting-edge research directed at improving health, and working with all stakeholders that we create the best chances to make a positive difference in the lives of children all over the world. He believes that it is the purpose of their science to save lives. It is science in service of social responsibility. And our social responsibility was never better articulated than in the words of Nelson Mandela: there is no keener reflection of a society’s soul than the way that it treats its children.’ To those words he adds, ‘there is no better way to change the future of our country than to change the life of a child.’
Next year’s ISPN Annual Meeting will be held in Cairo, Egypt – and will mark the second time the congress has been hosted on African soil, a full 18 years after Cape Town welcomed the international community in 2008! One thing is clear though, the momentum for Africa is just beginning!