Interviews

Prof. Elena Moro (EM): Dear Prof Correia, could you briefly summarize for the EANpages readers the history of the Portuguese National Neurological Society, and its major achievements at national level? Prof. Manuel Correia (MC): The first neuroscientific society in Portugal was founded in 1948, and it was named the “Sociedade Portuguesa de Oto-Neuro-Oftalmologia. The first century of Ophtalmoscopy was celebrated in Lisbon on the 26th of April 1952.

Prof. David B. Vodušek (DVB): Dear Prof. Zuberi I congratulate you with your new position as President of the EPNS. EAN addresses clinical neurology and needs to broaden its spectrum also towards clinical neuro-pediatrics. Kindly introduce the EPNS and its work to the readers of the EAN Pages Prof. Sameer Zuberi (SZ): Thank you. It is a special honour and a privilege for me to be elected as President of the EPNS. Our outgoing President, Lieven Lagae, deserves an enormous thank you from all of us— for guiding the society so ably.

Prof. Wolfgang Oertel (WO): Dear Prof. Di Luca I congratulate you with your new position and kindly ask you to illustrate your plans for EBC’s strategy and work in the years to come. Prof. Monica Di Luca (MDL): Being elected as President of EBC is a great honour for me as well as an important challenge. This is an important era for EBC. Thanks to the excellent work of the past President David Nutt, the last 4 years witnessed the consolidation of our Council in the European scenario as the ideal platform where all voices related to brain research could find an interlocutor and could merge. We are now in the privileged position to start new projects and bring EBC to a next step.

Gunhild Waldemar (GW): Can you please tell the EAN Pages readers about the goals of the BioMed Alliance and the criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to become a member of the BioMed Alliance? Axel Pries (AP): The Association’s principal goals and objectives are to promote the best interests and values of researchers, of healthcare professionals, and of non-for-profit medical associations and organisations across all medical disciplines in Europe, in those general areas of common interest.

Eveline Sipido: Thank you for hosting applicants of the EAN Clinical Fellowship. How would you evaluate this EAN educational opportunity? Mark Edwards (ME)/Anthony Pereira (AP): St George’s runs one of the largest Neurology & Stroke training schemes in the UK.  We cover the UK curriculum on site and so can provide a comprehensive clinical training in neurology and stroke medicine.

Antonio Federico (AF): Dear Professor, you founded Orphanet and gave a great contribution on the development of information about Rare Diseases in Europe. Can you summarize your past activities and the difficulties you had? Segolene Aymé (SA): That is a long story as I started to build a database of genetic diseases and of malformation syndromes described in the literature, in the mid-seventies, when I started as a clinician in medical genetics, lost in diagnosing most of the patients attending our clinic in Marseilles.

Elena Moro: Dear Prof. Vincent, you have recently been awarded with the WFN Medal for Scientific Achievement in Neurology. We congratulate with you for this well-deserved outstanding recognition! In light of your longstanding experience in the world of neuro-immunology in particular, what do you think is it the most recent important discovery in your field? Angela Vincent (AV): Well first of all thank you for the congratulations.  I am thrilled to receive the WFN Medal and it is much appreciated. Neuroimmunology is a relatively recent discipline – probably only first defined in the 1980s. 

As in the previous years, EANpages asked EAN committee members, panel chairs, and invited speakers  which session one should not miss at the upcoming congress in Lisbon 2018. Please find their answers below!

Antonio Federico (AF): On January 29-30, there has been in Tubingen the Kick-Off Meeting of the EU Project Solve-RD. You and Prof. Olaf Riess are coordinating this project. Can you summarize the aim and the activities of this important project? Holm Graessner (HG): To obtain a molecularly confirmed diagnosis remains one of the largest challenges for rare disease patients. To jointly tackle this challenge a core group of four European Reference Networks including the European Reference Network for Rare Neurological Diseases has motivated, designed and put together the Solve-RD project which is the first ERN based H2020 funded research project. Solve-RD brings together 21 partners from 10 countries which will be running from 2018 to 2022.

Dear Prof. Cras, I congratulate you for your election as Chair of the UEMS Section of Neurology. David B. Vodušek (DBV):  It is felt that many European neurologists may not be fully aware of the role of UEMS in general, and the distinctions between SN UEMS and EAN, would you offer your explanation to the readers of the EAN Pages? Patrick Cras (PC): Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes, also called European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), was founded in 1958, shortly after the founding of the European Common Market.  Those of us who feel inspired by the European project will agree that professional standard setting and continuing professional development has an international dimension.  

David B. Vodušek (DBV): UEMS-Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes/European Union of Medical Specialists has already a long experience with accreditation of international CME in Europe. Please inform about the situation of CME in European countries. What are the differences between CME and CPD? Nathalie Paulus (NP): One of the aims of the UEMS has always been to try and harmonise CME/CPD in Europe. In this respect the UEMS regularly conducts surveys in order to explore the state of play of CME/CPD in Europe. The latest survey dates back to 2014.

Thank you for hosting applicants of the EAN Clinical Fellowship. How would you evaluate this EAN educational opportunity? The EAN Clinical Fellowship is an excellent opportunity for young neurologists and trainees, to focus on a specific clinical field, and learn / share experience with centres specialised in that field. It is also rewarding for us to meet young, enthusiastic fellows.

As in the previous years, EANpages asked EAN committee members, panel chairs, and invited speakers  which session one should not miss at the upcoming congress in Lisbon 2018. Please find their answers below!

David B. Vodušek (DBV): When looking back at your long and varied career, can you tell us what was crucial for you to choose neurology as your specialty, and headache as your primary research field of interest?  Jes Olesen (JO): Already as a medical student, I was interested in neurology. I thought at that time – and I still think so today – that the brain is by far the most interesting organ in a human being.

David B Vodušek (DBV): In light of your long-standing experience in the world of neurology world-wide, what would your “diagnosis” be concerning its “state of art”? William Carroll (WC): What a good question to begin with. I would say my “diagnosis” is healthy and its prognosis is one of cautious optimism mixed with exciting opportunities and challenges.