The center was created in honor of Dr. Jesus Maria Neissa,M.D., a board-certified neurological surgeon from the University of New York, forerunner of Colombian neurosurgery and founder and Chair of the Samaritana University Hospital Neurosurgery Department. CIEN is the leading neurosurgery laboratory in Latin America. It has several research lines and training strategies, including vascular microsurgery tools, endovascular simulations, skull-base training, anatomical models and instruments for spinal deformity, and spinal surgery techniques.