Record Attendance at HA CONNECT
A record-breaking 700 people attended HA CONNECT, our 15th National Conference on Hydrocephalus, in Orange County, CA. People traveled from as far as New Zealand to take part in this rich learning experience, where they connected with others impacted by hydrocephalus and gained helpful tools and resources to navigate the challenges of living with the condition.
HA CONNECT featured more than 70 sessions with world-renowned medical professionals and researchers. In addition to providing opportunities to network and make valuable connections, this extensive three-day program covered topics of interest to all members of the hydrocephalus community, including, but not limited to, relationships, transition from pediatric to adult healthcare, learning challenges, treatment, emotional wellness, nutrition and lifestyle techniques. Scientists also discussed current research efforts focused on preventing the development of hydrocephalus and identifying alternative treatment options.
Tessa Van der Willigen
Parent of David
“Our family has attended almost every HA Conference over the last two decades. We started coming when our son, David, who has hydrocephalus, was two years old! At every Conference, we’ve found there is useful information to learn, both because there is new science and because our family is at a different stage in life. And every time we feel the support of the community and how great it is to know we are not alone on this journey.”
Medtronic has been a longstanding partner of the Hydrocephalus Association since the beginning, donating over $1 million to help advance our mission. In 2018, Medtronic sponsored our National Conference on Hydrocephalus, helping us provide quality educational programming to attendees from across the United States.
Tom Poss
Director of Marketing, Medtronic
“Medtronic is committed to our long-standing support of the Hydrocephalus Association (HA) team and all the wonderful work that they do for patients and families living with Hydrocephalus. Medtronic understands the importance and the need to support all of the work that HA is doing to raise funding for much-needed research in this field of medicine. We are hopeful that all of these efforts will help to minimize the number of brain surgeries hydrocephalus patients undergo in their lifetimes.”