Dr. Gail Rosseau Becomes First Woman Named CNS Honored Guest
When Gail Rosseau, MD, was born in 1956, the United States had only one woman neurosurgeon. Statistics like that never deterred Dr. Rosseau, though. Surrounded by three sisters and two uplifting parents, she grew up believing that women could do anything—that she could do anything.
Now, after four decades in neurosurgery, she is the first woman to receive one of the most prestigious awards in a field where women remain underrepresented—though that gender gap is narrowing.
On Nov. 2, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons will formally recognize Dr. Rosseau, an adjunct professor of global neurosurgery at Barrow Neurological Institute, as one of two Honored Guests for 2026. CNS established the award 74 years ago to acknowledge exceptional leaders in neurosurgery whose contributions have helped advance the field and patient care in meaningful ways.
‘Women Hold Up Half the Sky’
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Rosseau traces her interest in science and medicine all the way back to elementary school. When she had the opportunity to watch a brain tumor surgery as a student, she immediately knew she wanted to become a neurosurgeon.
“That never wavered,” she said. “I was just awed by the beauty, the majesty, and the intricacy of the human brain.”
Dr. Rosseau enrolled in medical school at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., fully intent on pursuing her neurosurgery dream. While undergoing her neurosurgery residency there, she attended the 1989 CNS Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time, women made up only 7% percent of neurosurgery residents in the U.S.
As conference participants poured out of a plenary session and into the hallway, Dr. Rosseau spotted another woman in the crowd and introduced herself. The two decided to extend an invitation to any other women they encountered at the meeting that day. At the hotel restaurant that evening, Dr. Rosseau and seven other women planted the seeds for what would grow into Women in Neurosurgery (WINS), a joint organization of the AANS and CNS dedicated to supporting the professional and personal needs of women throughout all stages of their neurosurgery careers.
“She is one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever known,” CNS President Martina Stippler said of Dr. Rosseau in a statement. “She made me feel welcome and like I truly belonged in neurosurgery.”
Since the founding of WINS, women’s representation among U.S. neurosurgery residents has nearly quadrupled to almost 28%. “I am so delighted by what the inclusion of more women has done for the specialty,” Dr. Rosseau said. “There’s this Chinese expression: ‘Women hold up half the sky,’ and it’s true. It’s also true that more than half of medical school students are women, so if we want the best and the brightest to go into neurosurgery, half of the best people are going to be women. We want our specialty to benefit from the brilliance, energy, dynamism, and innovations that women bring to the field.”
A Legacy Across Continents
In addition to blazing the trails for women in her field, Dr. Rosseau is internationally renowned for her leadership in global neurosurgery. She co-founded the Global Alliance for the Prevention of Spina Bifida-F, working with member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) to champion a resolution to eliminate cases of spina bifida caused by folic acid deficiency in pregnancy. She is currently working, with a global team based in the G4 Alliance, on a resolution encouraging governments worldwide to commit to tracking and treating traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.
Additionally, Dr. Rosseau chairs the Board of Directors of the G4 Alliance (Global Alliance for Surgery, Obstetric, Trauma, and Anaesthesia Care) and has served as a member of the Barrow Global team since its establishment in 2021.
“Dr. Rosseau has been an amazing addition to Barrow Global, facilitating our efforts in Tanzania, conducting research projects that improve care, and mentoring our faculty, fellows, and residents,” said Barrow President and CEO Michael T. Lawton, MD. “She has created an important legacy of impact beyond the OR, making global neurosurgery a movement, advancing preventative neurosurgery with spina bifida, inspiring women in neurosurgery, and interconnecting people around the world.”
Dr. Rosseau remembers discussing her legacy with Dr. Lawton while hiking together in Phoenix, Arizona. She expressed the same fundamental desire that most humans share: to make a difference with the time we have on Earth.
“There are over 8 billion people on the planet, and 5 billion of them don’t have access to even emergency and essential surgical care,” Dr. Rosseau said. “So I wake up every morning and think, this problem probably won’t be solved in my lifetime, but what can I do to get one step closer to solving it today?”
However, she notes that global neurosurgery isn’t just about what high-income countries can do to help low-income countries; it’s about sharing knowledge in both directions. “America has not cornered the market on brilliance, hard work, or innovation; that’s for sure,” Dr. Rosseau said. “When you look at where the next great idea is going to come from in neurosurgery, it may not be the United States. It’s just as likely to come from Bangalore or Beijing or Burkina Faso.”
Finding a Foundation in the ‘5 Fs’
That innovative spirit defines neurosurgery, no matter where it’s practiced. It’s another reason Dr. Rosseau felt drawn to the specialty early on; she knew neurosurgery would likely remain exciting throughout her career. In fact, this year’s CNS Annual Meeting centers on change and progress with the theme of “evolution.”
Neurosurgery is transforming with technological advancements, like improvements in minimally invasive techniques, expanded applications of functional neurosurgery, and the development of biomedical devices like brain-computer interfaces to name a few. Dr. Rosseau tells residents she’s actually a bit envious of them for starting their training at such a pivotal time. (And no, she’s not worried they’ll lose their jobs to robots in the foreseeable future.)
Residents looking for advice from Dr. Rosseau will want to catch her Honored Guest lecture for trainees at the upcoming CNS meeting, where she’ll talk about “leading from where you are.” She does have a pearl of wisdom to offer now, though: Spend some time thinking about what matters most to you, and live your life accordingly. For Dr. Rosseau, that means starting and ending each day with her “five Fs”: faith, family, friends, f(ph)ysician, and fitness.
Great minds think alike; one of the neurosurgeons Dr. Rosseau admires most has his own version of this. Barrow Emeritus Professor Volker K.H. Sonntag, MD, whom CNS selected as its Honored Guest in 2002, commits to “four Hs”: hope, humility, honesty, and hard work.
Rooted in Family; Reaching for the Stars
And like Dr. Sonntag, when Dr. Rosseau is asked what she’s most proud of in her career, she talks not of her own accomplishments but of those of her family. Her daughter is a senior resident in internal medicine and applying for fellowships in gastroenterology and hepatology. Her son, an astronomy enthusiast since childhood, has published a book titled “Space to Grow” and now works for a space technology company. She’s also proud of her husband, a successful orthopedic surgeon and an exceptional athlete, and the three sisters who grew up alongside her. The support of her family members, she added, has played an essential role in her own achievements.
“When a person in the family is a neurosurgeon, there are family dinners that are interrupted, there are vacations that have to be planned way in advance—not on the holiday everyone would desire—all of these sorts of things,” she said. “My family has really been essential to any success I may have had.”
“There’s this Chinese expression: ‘Women hold up half the sky,’ and it’s true. It’s also true that more than half of medical school students are women, so if we want the best and the brightest to go into neurosurgery, half of the best people are going to be women. We want our specialty to benefit from the brilliance, energy, dynamism, and innovations that women bring to the field.”
-Gail Rosseau, MD
Before her parents passed away, Dr. Rosseau would call them on her daily commute home. They would catch up on what happened that day, from big things to small. Toward the end of Dr. Rosseau’s mother’s life, she would ask her daughter a couple of times a week to remind her of a quote she loved. It came from the wall of Dr. Rosseau’s gym: “You are entirely up to you.”
From entering a field women hardly inhabited to impacting it globally and now earning one of its highest honors, Dr. Rosseau epitomizes that mantra.
“Her legendary commitment to teaching and mentoring neurosurgeons around the world has left an enduring mark on our profession,” said Barrow Emeritus Chair of Neurosurgery Robert F. Spetzler, MD, who made history as both the youngest recipient of the CNS Honored Guest award and the only recipient to win it twice. “My wife, Nancy, and I are thrilled to see her receive this richly deserved recognition and are proud to call her our friend.”
To find herself in the company of neurosurgery giants like Drs. Spetzler and Sonntag, whom she once admired from afar, is “almost overwhelming,” she said. “There’s nothing like it. It’s the honor of a lifetime.”
