Birthday Celebration
On October 12-15, the Italian society of neurology (SIN, Società Italiana di Neurologia) celebrated its 50th congress in Bologna. Bologna has the oldest Italian University, founded in 1088, and is the town of many outstanding Italian neuroscientists. Moreover, Bologna has been the nest of some of the major European schools in the field of epilepsy and sleep medicine.
Photo Desk at the Congress
This anniversary congress registered a record number of more than 2,500 participants who were attracted by a program divided between past and future. On one hand, the history of neurology was celebrated with teaching sessions attended by both junior and senior neurologists and, on the other hand, more innovative sessions featured new neuroimaging and neurophysiology methods (with some interesting collaborations with medical and non-medical industries), with special application in the field of neurological emergencies and neurorehabilitation.
The congress was the occasion for the presidential change from prof. Gianluigi Mancardi to prof. Gioacchino Tedeschi, and the election of the future president, prof. Alfredo Berardelli.
Among the sessions, it is definitely important to mention the plenary sessions in collaboration with EAN. This session saw the participation of prof. Muresanu, Bassetti, Federico, Moro, Soffietti, Boon and Toscano, testifying a special interest of the Italian neurological community towards the European network, as also documented by the high number of young Italian neurologists registered in the RRFS section of EAN.
Several workshops were particularly successful, such as those regarding biomarkers in various neurological pathologies, the use of new MRI techniques for follow-up of multiple sclerosis, and a special session between neuro-inflammation and plasticity mechanisms in degenerative, cerebrovascular and auto-immune pathologies.
Young neurologists were highly involved in the congress, for example as moderators of several poster and workshops sessions, and especially organizing various interactive sessions, including the appreciated “clinical grand rounds session” that saw the participation of real patients being visited by senior professors who were previously unaware of the diagnosis. This session, the first time ever introduced to this conference, was warmly received by both audience and professors.
The SIN congress was also an occasion to experiment with new technologies that will be developed during the next national congress in Milan in 2020, and looking towards the World Federation of Neurology Congress in Rome in 2021.
Francesco Iodice (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy), EAN RRFS
Francesco Di Lorenzo (IRCCS S. Lucia, Rome, Italy), EAN RRFS
Italian Young Neurologists Association coordination group
