Conference agenda and registration

Spinal CSF Leak: Bridging the Gap is an annual November conference designed to foster a patient-centered understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of spinal CSF leak. Presented by Dr. Andrew Callen and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in partnership with the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation, the program welcomes physicians, patients, caregivers, and anyone interested in learning more about this condition.

This year’s theme, “Making the invisible visible,” will be reflected throughout the fully virtual event. The program features physician presentations, patient moderators guiding questions submitted by patients after each talk, and short video stories submitted by patients to highlight the lived experiences of spinal CSF leak.

This year’s online conference is a one-day event, with four talks, each focusing on a category of questions our patient community spotlighted as important to them. We hope that these talks will help patients enhance communication with physicians, and serve as resources in advocating for care and treatment. 

• Emerging concepts in Post-Dural Puncture Headache, presented by Dr. Jürgen Beck

• Beyond the Paraspinal Vein: Nuances in Myelography for CVFs, presented by Dr. Andrew Callen

• Is that a Diverticulum? New Insights in Lateral Leaks, presented by Dr. Ajay Madhavan and Dr. Wouter Schievink

• A Better Understanding of Barriers to Care in Spinal CSF Leak, presented by Dr. Andrew Callen and Jodi Ettenberg

The conference will take place on Saturday, November 15th starting at 8:00 AM Mountain Time. This year’s Bridging the Gap is completely FREE! Registration is now open.

Our aim with this conference is that it helps narrow the gap between clinicians and patients while offering support to the spinal CSF leak community, as well as an opportunity for community voices to be be heard — more about that below!

If you are able, please consider making a donation to help sustain this free conference and grow Bridging the Gap for years to come.

Open call for patient voices at Bridging the Gap 2025

As part of including the important voices of patients and our community, we are inviting patients to share their lived experience at Bridging the Gap 2025. Submitting a video is quick and easy, and you can do it right on your phone!

Patients with confirmed or suspected spinal CSF leak are invited to share a short video (under 30 seconds, filmed in landscape) to answer one or more of three questions.

• What progress do you want to see in the field?

• What do you want your loved ones to know?

• What do you want people to understand about getting sealed?

Just one video from you adds to the collective voice of our community. Your video will be added to other patient videos for a montage shared online during the conference and later posted on YouTube, much like the Patient Voices Video from the inaugural Bridging the Gap conference.

We are looking forward to sharing the voices of our patient community at Spinal CSF Leak: Bridging the Gap 2025. Join us in sharing your voice!

Video submission deadline is Friday, October 24th at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.sample video and video submission u

Submit your questions for physician speakers in advance!

Back by popular demand, we are once again inviting you to submit your questions ahead of time for Spinal CSF Leak: Bridging the Gap 2025’s panelists and speakers. Your questions will be shared with our patient moderators so that they can be asked during the Q&A portions of each session, as well as in the general Q&A session at the close of the day.

Thank you for helping shape this year’s virtual event and keeping the conversation going.

Question submission deadline is Friday, November 7th at 9:00 PM Eastern TIme.

Update on our upcoming patient survey

Thank you to everyone who submitted question ideas about barriers to care in spinal CSF leak. Our patient community has consistently expressed challenges and frustrations around accessing care for spinal CSF leak, and we look forward to sharing the results of your input soon in the form of a survey we are developing with Dr. Andrew Callen at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Seventy-four patients contributed question ideas that helped shape the survey design. Thank you for your input!

In addition to this survey, we are working on creating additional resources and supports for our patient community that reflect the needs identified from your questions.

We look forward to sharing those updated resources and supports with you very soon!