João Lobo Antunes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
João Lobo Antunes, (born June 4, 1944) is a Portuguese Neurosurgeon[1]. He is the brother of the Portuguese novelist António Lobo Antunes, and son of a prominent Portuguese neurologist, a close collaborator of Egas Moniz.
He has a degree in Medicine by the University of Lisbon (1968). He then went to the USA, and worked in the Department of Neurosurgery of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and taught at the Columbia University. In 1983 he returned to Portugal, to get a PhD from the University of Lisbon. A year later he was Professor in Neurosurgery at the Faculty of Medicine.[1]
In 1990, he was elected vice-president of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies; in 1999 he was elected the President of the European Neurosurgery Society.
In 1996, he was elected President of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Medicine. In the same year, he received the prestigious Pessoa Award (Prémio Pessoa).
He is the author of more than 150 scientific articles and wrote 4 books: "A way to be" (Um Modo de Ser), "In a happy city" (Numa cidade feliz), NY Memories and other essays" (Memória de Nova Iorque e outros ensaios) and "About the hand and other essays" (Sobre a mão e outros ensaios).
His research focused in the study of the hypothalamus and the hypophysis. In 1982/83 he was the first surgeon to implant an electronic eye in a blind man.[1]
He is Professor of Neurosurgery in the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery of the Saint Mary Hospital (Hospital de Santa Maria) in Lisbon and is the President of the Portuguese Academy of Medicine.
