by Prof. Antonio Toscano, EAN Secretary General,
Dear EAN members, colleagues, and friends,
As the newly elected Secretary General of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), it is an honour and a pleasure for me to provide you with a full update on the newly composed EAN Board, following the elections held at our recent congress in Helsinki and subsequent appointments made by the board.
Several board members have also rotated into new positions; so, here, I would like to give you an overview, with a short introduction of some of the new components.
EAN members may be aware that every two years, the EAN holds elections for several positions on the board during the Assembly of Delegates at our annual congress. At the same time, the President-Elect becomes the new President, and the EAN President becomes the Past President.
As most of you will already know, former President-Elect Prof. Elena Moro is now the new EAN President with Prof. Paul Boon now becoming Past President. For an introduction of Prof. Moro and her plans for the EAN, please read the eanNews article we published in July and watch her interview on EAN TV.
This year, the positions up for election were President-Elect, Secretary General, Treasurer, Scientific Committee Chair, and Communications Committee Chair. As a result of the voting from the Assembly of Delegates, we have three new members of the EAN Board, with one previous board member elected to a new position and one re-elected for a further term.
Prof. Kailash Bhatia, from UK, is the new EAN President-Elect and will hold that position for the next two years, before assuming the EAN Presidency. Prof. Bhatia is Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Department of Clinical and Movement Neuroscience of the Institute of Neurology, UCL, Queen Square, London. He has been an active member of our scientific community for several years, having co-chaired the EAN Coordinating Panel on Rare Diseases and served as special EAN liaison for the EAN/IAN (Indian Academy of Neurology) since 2021.
The other newly elected board members are Prof. Jana Midelfart-Hoff, currently President of the Norwegian Neurological Association, who joins the team as new Treasurer; andProf. Gereon R. Fink, former president of the German Neurological Society (2017-18), who takes over as Chair of the Scientific Committee.
As mentioned above, I, Prof. Antonio Toscano from Italy, was deeply honoured to be elected as Secretary General, having previously served as Treasurer since 2022. Following a successful two-year period, Prof. Matilde Leonardi, also from Italy, was re-elected as Chair of the Communications Committee.
At an EAN Board meeting on 17 July, the new Education Committee and Programme Committee Chairs were appointed. Prof. Nathalie Nasr, from France, who has experience on the board of the National College of Professors of Neurology in France and is currently National Coordinator of the French Diploma of Neurosonology in Neurovascular Pathology, was appointed as a Chair of the Education Committee.
Previously in that role since 2023 was Prof. Irena Rektorova, from the Czech Republic, now appointed as Chair of the Programme Committee.
Finally, in addition to the elected and nominated members, the new board has decided to add four observers, who will join board meetings to exchange information with regard to their areas of responsibility (without voting rights).
They are as listed below:
- Brain Health Mission Chair: Prof. Paul Boon, from Belgium (also Past President)
- EAN Representative to EBC Board: Prof. Claudio Bassetti, from Switzerland (EAN President 2020-2022)
- RRFS Representative to the Board: Dr Giacomo Sferruzza, from Italy
- Chair of the Environmental Influences in Neurology Task Force: Prof. Ulf Kallweit, from Germany (formerly Programme Committee Chair)
On behalf of the EAN, a warm welcome to the new members and observers of the board and a warm wish to the members already present to carry out, all together in harmony, a new productive two-year period.
Best wishes
Antonio Toscano, EAN Secretary General
Find out more about each of the full members of the EAN Board: Meet the Board – ean.org
