Registrar’s Prize in Clinical Neuroscience 2021: Meeting Report
The Registrar’s Prize meeting proved again to be a fantastic & engaging event that was well attended with delegated registered to attend from throughout the whole island and beyond, on Friday November 12th.
Support for the meeting in messages of encouragement, practical assistance in the difficult challenge of abstract selection and attendance was seen from continents and hemispheres away.
Hosted in virtual format from sunny Cork, the meeting proved educational and good opportunity to hear voices both new and familiar.
As a generally very social and informal meeting to look forward to each year, Dr Merwick remarked that she was glad to see the meeting returning to its autumn calendar position, even if in virtual format once more in context of the challenging circumstances of coronavirus pandemic.
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Programme
To view the Scientific Programme of the Registrar’s Prize Meeting please click here
Prizewinners
Judges who voted from their top secret locations throughout the country had the pleasure of seeing such high quality work presented. They agreed the winners were:
Interesting Case Reports
Dr. Michael Amoo
Parietal trans-sulcal para-fascicular approach to lateral thalamic/internal capsule cavernous malformation.
Amoo M, Sweeney KJ, Kilbride R, Javadpour M.
Dr. Mary Clare McKenna 
A case of Parkinsonism: when to consider quantitative neuroimaging?
McKenna MC, Redmond J, Bradley D, Bede P
Dr. Mary Clare McKenna
Original Research
Dr. Michael Ita
The utility of plasma circulating cell free messenger RNA as a biomarker of glioma: a pilot study.
Ita M, Huai Wang J, Toulouse A, Lim C, Fanning N, O’Sullivan M, Nolan Y, Kaar GF, Redmond HP.
Dr Merwick encouraged all the registrars to reach out to one another for peer support in collaboration and in bringing their work on the publication or validation stage. She thanked everyone including the presenters, the patients and families who allowed cases to be presented and work conducted, as well as all the mentors, collaborators and funding agencies that supported the registrars. The chairs of the sessions played very important roles in ensuring sessions ran smoothly, along with all the delegates who through the questions and answer function were able to engage with asking questions and providing comments for presenters.
Sponsor Acknowledgement
The important support of Biogen who sponsored the meeting and whose representatives were a welcome presence at the meeting was acknowledged.
A special word of thanks went to Mr. Craig Wilkie, Audio Visual Company (AVC) for his vital support, reviewing and troubleshooting recording presentations and facilitating practice sessions in such a professional manner. Thanks also to Mr. Peter FitzGerald, IICN website designer, for his integration of the online meeting into the website, giving access to members and guests.
Further warm thanks and special appreciation of the work of Ms. Colette Fitzpatrick and Ms. Michelle Ryan Moran was acknowledged, and their role in organising the Registrar’s Prize meeting, which has allowed so many registrars to go on to flourish professionally and support professional development growth. The hard work of ensuring the meeting went ahead with such ease relied especially on Colette’s organisation skills, commitment and attention to detail.
Dr. Merwick reminded everyone of the importance of evaluation forms and applying for CPD certificates.
Encouraged by the strength and breath of on-going work Dr Brian Sweeney, as Dean of IICN, remarked that the future remains bright for clinical neuroscience in Ireland and thanked all involved.
Hoping 2022 sees the meeting return to an in person format, even if sunny Cork sunshine is not around on the next occasion.
– Dr. Áine Merwick,
Director
Registrar’s Prize in Clinical Neuroscience 2021
