62nd Annual Irish Neurological Association Meeting
The 62nd annual Irish Neurological Association Meeting, under the presidency of Professor Norman Delanty, took place on May 14 – 15th in Clontarf Castle, Dublin.
The meeting opened with the President’s Reception on Wednesday evening.
Prof. Dan Healy exhibited his collection of antiquarian and valuable neurology books. He introduced each book describing the author and origin and their contribution to the understanding of the neurological system. Some books were accessible for handling by those present and many could not be touched as the parchment and spine of the book were fragile.
On the occasion of his retirement from full time practice at Beaumont Hospital, Prof. Michael Farrell was presented with a publication of an article that he had written for FreeNeuropathology. Prof. Delanty paid tribute to the enormous contribution which Prof. Farrell had made to clinical neuroscience in Ireland throughout his career.
On Thursday 14th May, Prof. Delanty opening the meeting welcoming all delegates from neuroscience centres across the country, most especially his eminent retired colleagues and Mr. Michael Crean, Deputy Executive Director, European Academy of Neurology. He looked forward to presentations by delegates at the meeting including medical students, registrars and specialist registrars.
He advised that the established practice of having consultants update delegates on new developments in their specialist area would continue and thanked his colleagues for their contribution and for chairing sessions and judging prizes.
He thanked the sponsoring companies for their support of the meeting and welcomed representatives from those companies.Prof. Delanty advised that the Thursday programme would present Neuroinflammation and a new area of Resources and Society followed by Stroke and Neurogenetics. The afternoon would be composed of guided scientific poster rounds followed by a final session of Neurourgery and of Movement Disorders.
The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience took place in the final session of the day’s meeting, chaired by Dr. John McConville, IICN Dean.
On Thursday evening delegates were fortunate to have a rare treat in that Ms. Colette Delahunt, soprano, performed with her accompanist Ms. Siobhan Dempsey in the hotel lobby. This was indeed a truly excellent performance and the appreciation of the audience was expressed. The INA Dinner then took place with a capacity attendance, and it is clear that the cook at Clontarf Castle is at the very top of his career.
On Friday 15th an early morning sponsored symposium took place, at which Dr. Heather Wilson from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery spoke on treating aging patients with MS.
The meeting opened on Friday with a session on Neuromuscular Disorders followed by a session on Epilepsy. Following this, the second scientific poster session took place. The highlight of the meeting featured the Guest Lecturer, Prof. Paul Boon, Ghent University Hospital, who delivered the Noel Callaghan lecture. His presentation was entitled “The burden of neurological discorders and the importance of brain health related to epilepsy”. This included insights from his research group 4Brain at Ghent University. Prof. Boon outlined the importance of Brain Health and the need for education about the modifiable risk factors associated with dementia. On the lead up to Ireland taking over the EU Presidency, he also discussed the role of advocacy at national and European levels. In particular the concept of “brain capital” was highlighted.
The final session of the meeting focussed on Headache followed by Dementia and Neurodegenerative Disorders.
Prof. Delanty closed the meeting stating “It has been an honour to host this year’s Irish Neurological Meeting at Clontarf Castle Hotel. The quality of the presentations, the clinical and intellectual curiosity among the members and delegates, the friendships and the networking, the “buzz” of the meeting, and the social programme all combined to make it a huge success. One of the themes that I highlighted during the meeting was the tradition and history that has gone before us, and that has formed the foundation of modern neurology in Ireland. It is important that current and future members remember and honour our past.
I would like to sincerely thank soprano, Colette Delahunt, and her pianist accompaniment, Siobhan, for an incredible and heart-warming performance before the INA dinner. I would also like to once again thank Colette Fitzpatrick and Mary McConville for their incredible and effective work in making the meeting such a success”
INA Meeting Awards
- The John Lynch Prize for best Poster Presentation was awarded to Dr. Asya Tacheva for her poster “Implementation of a Seizure Pathway and Epilepsy Rapid Access Clinic at Tallaght University Hospital: Real World Outcomes Data”
- The Neurosurgical Prize was awarded to Dr. Suzanne Murphy for her presentation “Identifying a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for TME Low Glioblastoma”.
- The Hugh Staunton Prize for best presentation by an Intern or Medical Student was awarded to Shahed Ghadban and Kenny Sin for their presentation “Finding the gaps: an audit of seizure management in a Level 3 hospital in the Midlands”.
- The Mark Gibson Medal for best Movement Disorder related presentation was awarded to Dr. Owen Killian for his presentation “A Comparison of Video-Based and Sensor-Based Movement Measurements in Cervical Dystonia”.
- The John Kirker Prize for best Epilepsy related presentation was awarded to Dr. Alex Dudley for his presentation “Exclusion of adults from developmental and epileptic encephalopathy clinical trials – A systematic review”.
- The Harold Millar Prize for best overall presentation at the meeting was awarded to Dr. Mark Kelly for his presentation “Characterising the intrathecal immune repertoire in LGI1-antibody encephalitis”.
