The 57th Annual Meeting of the Irish Neurological Association
Address by Dr. Donal Costigan, INA President 2021
It was a great privilege to be the President of the INA charged with leading the arrangements. Let me first express, on behalf of the INA, gratitude to all the presenters who submitted papers of such a high standard, in double measure due to the need to pre-record poster audio and platform presentation. There would be no meeting without this hard work. Over 90 abstracts were offered either platform or poster. We are also indebted to the members who chaired sessions, whose comments and questions were so well chosen, and to our thoughtful and discerning judges. By tradition, the judges remain nameless. I would also like to thank all those who volunteered assistance when I first took on the mission.
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Guest Lecturers at INA meeting 2021
We had two special guest lecturers who generously shared their knowledge of important topics in clinical neuroscience. Dr Jorge Juncos gave the Callaghan Memorial lecture entitled ‘Tourette Syndrome: A spectrum disorder?
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Dr Alberto Blanco-Campal was the guest at our neuropsychology seminar, with contributions from Dr. Paul Crowley and myself. - ▾
Planning the Meeting
Setting up the meeting was an exercise in adaptation to the pandemic and the last minute double whammy of the HSE computer malware attack. I think we managed to find non-HSE blocked email addresses across the board, and no doubt many clever “workarounds” were used. I thought the platform chairs made great use of the question time, while waiting for items to emerge from the Q&A. At a real meeting, live questions coming from the floor might have been more uneven, although badly missed. The Posters-to-Platform arrangement worked well, and chairs gave a few honourable mentions as well their choice of winner in each of the four zones.
To view the INA meeting programme please click here
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Tribute to Dr. Stanley Hawkins
The interval between the last session and the announcement of the awards was nicely filled by a tribute to Dr Stanley Hawkins that Dr Ray Murphy recorded, on the occasion of Stanley’s move to Scotland. Of course Stanley assures us that he will remain an active INA member. This time window might be usefully anticipated in future meetings. It is important to collate the judges’ and chairs’ observations before the closing ceremony
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Neurology Quiz
We set up a neurology quiz at 1400 on Friday, in the form of Neuro Kahoot!. With movement disorder video contributions from several clinicians around the island, neuropathology images from Professor Michael Farrell, video research and collation by Dr Tudor Munteanu, John’s crafty media based questions, and Professor Tim Lynch’s expert comments on phenomenology, Dr John McHugh chaired a 30 minute game. The players were identified by nickname but a clue to their associated institution as well.
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Social Programme
The entertainment on Thursday evening from the James Joyce Cultural Centre was the product of a lengthy planning phase, which may have reduced our chance to publicise it more effectively. It was an attempt to replace the conviviality of the meeting in general with a performance and a chance to hear members of the audience making comments and exchanging with the performers.
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Access to Recordings of Meeting Sessions
Access ends Friday 9 July 2021.
Recordings of sessions of the meeting may be accessed at the link below by IICN members and INA Meeting delegates. For members or neuroscientists in training who were unable to attend the meeting but who wish to view meeting sessions or posters, delegates may still register for the meeting to access the post meeting recordings and poster viewing.
I hope you will avail of the opportunity for a second helping of human genius across the spectrum of neurology.
Access ends Friday 9 July 2021.
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INA Meeting Awards and Prizes
The judges, who generously gave of their time and expertise to review and adjudicate on platform and poster presentations at the INA meeting, were unanimous in their opinion that the standard of presentation was exceptionally high at the meeting. There were six awards made in different categories and congratulations are due to all presenters and their supervisors.
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Appreciation
A big personal thanks to the IICN team under Colette Fitzpatrick’s leadership, the guidance of IICN Dean, Dr John McHugh, and his committee. The magnificent software work and audiovisual juggling by Peter, Michelle and Craig was superb. Thanks again!
I also acknowledge our sponsors from the pharmaceutical industry, whose funds and interest are indispensable. I hope they were able to enjoy exposure and contact with meeting attendees.
Every best wish to Dr Paul Crowley who is going to preside over INA 2022, and we hope with no “V”.
Donal Costigan MB, ABPN, ABEM 01.06.21