Dr. Klugh tapped by AANS to help with diversity efforts

When he was a youngster growing up in South Carolina, Arnett Klugh attended a summer camp run by the National Science Foundation on Pine Island.

"I remember doing experiments on gravity," he said, including dropping eggs from a tower. "The goal of the experiment was to design, evaluate and test a container that would protect the egg. In doing so we would grapple with the concepts of gravity, force and motion."

The early introduction to science eventually led Dr. Klugh to medical school and an MD, and then to UNMC, where he is an associate professor in the UNMC Department of Neurosurgery, and division chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.

Now, he is working with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) to expand diversity in the subspeciality by reaching out to children in underrepresented communities, looking to spark in them the same love of science he discovered that summer at Pine Island.

"Neurosurgery, like a lot of hard sciences, is facing a difficult transition because it has not traditionally widened the spectrum of folks who are introduced and become attracted to the subspeciality," he said.

To address that need, the AANS has created a strategy group that became an inaugural committee — led by UNMC’s own Aviva Abosch, MD, PhD — and Dr. Klugh is a charter member.

The work of the committee is two-pronged, Dr. Abosch said: To encourage interest in STEM in middle school students and to explore ways to improve mentorship in medical school, residency and subsequent professional development.

Dr. Klugh’s goal, he said, is to reach out to middle-school students and introduce them to the possibilities of science and, specifically, neurosurgery.

"By medical school, we may already have lost opportunity," he said.

Dr. Klugh is no stranger to the power of mentorship. When he was a young marine, one of his officers, Marine Capt. John Monahan, suggested that he would make a fine officer and should consider attending the Naval Academy.

"That changed my whole life," he said.

As a Navy surgeon, he achieved the rank of captain — and embraced his role as a leader of young people. Now, as a neurosurgeon, Dr. Klugh is working to bring underrepresented students into the specialty. He already is working with Omaha’s NorthStar Foundation and is in talks to work with the Boys and Girls Clubs.

His goal?

"I just want kids to think about science in the way they’d think about business or sports," he said. "When they consider their future, I’d like science to be on that list."

Although his initial efforts have been hampered by COVID-19, Dr. Klugh has found strong interest from the community organizations he has approached.

"I’m very cognizant that I’m standing where I am as an avatar of people who made that investment in me," Dr. Klugh said. "I want to be able to do that same thing. Fortunately, since I come from humble beginnings, I can be a mirror — when you look at what I’ve done, you see that’s something you can do."

And, he added, it doesn’t stop at being a mentor.

"When we’re talking about diversity, it’s not just mentoring but becoming an advocate for this person, being that person who’s a little further down the path, who can help someone understand what’s coming around the corner."

Dr. Abosch said Dr. Klugh’s passion is inspiring.

"I have engaged him in the work of the committee nationally, but he has been doing this work locally for some time," Dr. Abosch said. "In addition to being a spectacular pediatric neurosurgeon and division chief, the things he’s been doing, on his own and as part of this effort, are the sort of things that can change the face of neurosurgery and related professions. He’s phenomenal."