My yearly update of the events of the International Society of Neuropathology comes this time in the aftermath of the 9th Congress of Neuropathology, held in Athens, 8th–10th May.
It is a pleasure to report that this meeting appeared to confirm a trend already seen, i.e., that this event, in the past exclusively European, is becoming truly international, as shown by the many delegates who arrived from all parts of the world, in particular the Americas and Australasia. It was also encouraging to see young neuroscientists in growing numbers and in particular to notice the presence of young Eastern Europeans: could this be a sign that bursaries from many organisations are at long last producing the desired effect?
Athens is a natural place for gatherings of all sizes and Athens in May could not provide a better venue, as it is a city full of attractions to satisfy all kinds of tastes, whether cultural or more leisurely. Indeed, it would have been a great pity if the participants could not have been able to find a slot (or two) in the tight schedule of the congress to visit the Acropolis, the many superb museums, the little, exquisite, Byzantine churches, or to stroll, at sunset, among the narrow and extremely busy alleys sprawling between the ancient Agorá and Plateia Syntagmatos, or sit at one of the many bustling cafés or restaurants. The members of the Organising Committee did their best, and with great success, to avoid this eventuality, by preparing a meeting in which great originality of the topics matched the superb academic level and expertise of the invited guests. Lack of printed space and fear of forgetting some of these distinguished guests prevents me from naming and thanking one by one those who responded to the invitation and came to share their scientific and clinical experience with the over 300 delegates on topics that ranged from neuro‐oncology, neurogenetics and epilepsy to prion and demyelinating disorders. Plenary lectures alternated with symposia and poster presentations; the attendance demonstrated how much the delegates appreciated the effort by the organisers. The meeting ended with a lecture by Doctor Hagoort, Minding the Brain, which was full of original and interesting points.
I think you will all agree to join me in sending warm thanks to the Organisers, Drs Patsouris, Balogiannis, Stavrou, Chatzigianni, Christodoulou, Lammens, Sklaviadis and Koikolopoulou, as well as to the Members of EuroCNS for the great, highly successful effort and work they put into the organisation of this Congress.
Major gatherings like this in Athens offer the ISN the opportunity to hold a meeting of its Executive Committee. During the meeting, Dr Seth Love, its Secretary, announced that the Nominating Committee of the Society had proposed Dr Herbert Budka as the President‐elect. All the members of the Executive committee agreed with the nomination and congratulated Dr Budka. The new President‐elect accepted the nomination and thanked the committee for the honour bestowed on him.
Dr Budka is also the organiser of the next International meeting, the XVII of the series, which will be held in Salzburg on September 10th–15th 2010. Dr Budka let the Committee know that the meeting will be preceded by Prion 2010, a major international congress, covering research on prion disease. Relevant to the possible participants to the Congress was the information that arrangements have already been made for large numbers of hotels in the host city, to satisfy purses of every size. The costs of registration were also mentioned and a promise was made to keep them at the lowest possible level. I am sure Dr Budka has the experience and ability to fulfil these promises and make the Salzburg meeting an event to remember.
This presentation was followed by another by Dr Chimelli, the Head of the Organising Committee of the XVIII International Congress, to be held in Rio de Janeiro on 17th–20th September 2014. What a superb venue! The committee had a brief glimpse of attractions to come in Brazil, in addition, of course, to the high quality scientific programme our International Congresses usually display. All our best wishes to Dr Chimelli; however huge the task ahead of her may be, she is a skilful and capable person who will deliver; in addition, she has the support of the Committee for what will be, I am sure, a highly successful event.
Another piece of good news was that the official Journal of the Society, Brain Pathology, is thriving again, under Arie Perry's Editorship. Dr Perry summarised before the Committee a number of targets the Journal intends to accomplish and presented convincing data indicating excellent progress towards goals such as number of submissions, which has increased, reduction of turnaround time, increased sales and, not last, increased impact factor. Congratulations, Arie, well done and in a relatively short time; our best wishes to continue on this path.
Finally, I am pleased to announce that Dr Ghetti has proposed the establishment of a sub‐committee for training and education. This new body has already been constituted and is chaired by the Archivist of the Society. Further information will be circulated to the Membership, once the terms of reference have been set and approved by the Committee. In its endeavour, the sub‐committee will seek the advice and expertise of Members with experience in this field; in this respect, I would also like to ask all people interested in this topic to send questions and advice via e‐mail (f.scaravilli@ion.ucl.ac.uk).
Best wishes to all
Yours sincerely
President
Bernardino Ghetti, M.D. Distinguished Professor Director Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 635 Barnhill Drive, MS A138 Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA Tel.: (001) 317 274 7818 Fax: (001) 317 274 4882 E‐mail: bghetti@iupui.edu
Secretary General
Prof Seth Love Department of Neuropathology Institute of Clinical Neurosciences Frenchay Hospital Bristol BS16 1LE United Kingdom Tel.: (+44) 0 117 975 3823 Fax: (+44) 0 117 975 3760 E‐mail: seth.love@bris.ac.uk
Treasurer
Dr Marcus Tolnay Neuropathology, Institute of Pathology Schonbeinstrasse 40 CH‐4003 Basel Switzerland Tel.: (+41) 61 265 2896 Fax: (+41) 61 265 3194 E‐mail: mtolnay@uhbs.ch
Project Secretary
Leila Chimelli Servico de Anatomia Patologica Hospital Universitario‐UFRJ Ilha do Fundao‐Rio de Janeiro, RJ CEP 21941‐590 Brazil Tel.: (+55) 21 2562 2450 Fax: (+55) 21 2562 2450 E‐mail: chimelli@hucff.ufrj.br