Fall 2016

Kenneth J. Mack, MD, PhD

Dear colleagues,

Our fall meeting in Vancouver promises to be exceptional. Vancouver is a wonderful venue. A record number of abstracts were submitted and accepted, and a record number of pre-registrants have signed up to attend. Bernie Maria has put together another excellent Wednesday Neurobiology of Disease symposium; this year’s topic is Neurofibromatosis I. A special thank you is owed to Marc Patterson and the Scientific Selection and Program Planning Committee for designing a current and eclectic conference. Some of the new additions this year include a symposium on neuro humanities led by Phil Pearl that will be offered as the Wednesday evening “NeuroNightCap” (with dessert and coffee) immediately following the Welcome Reception.

Also new this year are four CME sessions organized by Special Interest Groups in lieu of or as part of their SIG meetings: the four CME sessions are: Education, Headache, Sleep and a collaborative effort involving the Neurogenetics and Neurovelopmental SIGs.

Bill Trescher and the Child Neurology Foundation are continuing an innovative session on Saturday afternoon that integrates basic science, clinical science and patient advocacy on the use of cannabis in epilepsy. The bottom line is that we have a great program, a great venue and a wonderful opportunity to meet with our colleagues.

Our Child Neurology Society is also trying to actively engage with child neurology residents and fellows.

  • All PGY3 residents entering their first year child neurology training were given a Trommer reflex hammer engraved with the CNS logo welcoming them into the field.
  • Thanks to the generous and enthusiastic efforts of Renee Shellhaas, Elaine Wirrell and Phillip Pearl, we will be staging the first John M. “Jack” Pellock Resident Seminar on Epilepsy immediately prior to this year’s annual meeting; 55 PGY5 residents are enrolled, most of whom will be staying on for the full CNS meeting.
  • The new Child Neurologist Career Development K-12 Award Program (CNCDP), headquartered at Kennedy Krieger under Mike Johnston’s direction, will hold a two-day retreat pirior to the CNS Annual Meeting with funding support from both the NIH and the CNS. This is something we hope will be an annual gathering as, over the next five years, the program trains 30 new academic-researchers. As with the Pellock Seminar, we are supporting and encouraging all participants to stay for the full CNS meeting.
  • As always, we encourage trainees to attend the meeting, make presentations (first authors are given a full fee waiver), and become active and engaged members of a child neurology community that is growing in size and sophistication.

The CNS will soon be rolling out its new web-based lifelong learning platform featuring a regularly refreshed roster of on-line CME, Maintenance of Certification, and resident training modules available to members and non-members alike (with discounted rates for CNS members and annual meeting attendees). The first CME courses will be available for credit in late November.

I am excited about the 2016 Annual Meeting in Vancouver. It will be an excellent meeting with most of our colleagues in attendance. I look forward to seeing you there.

Kenneth J. Mack, MD, PhD
President, Child Neurology Society