Welcome to the October edition of the President’s Corner, our eanNews series, in which I answer your questions about the EAN and its various initiatives.
This month, we received a nice range of questions focusing on student membership, residency advice, training outside of Europe, and the Brain Health Mission – all subjects that I am very pleased to have the opportunity to share more information on! Please see my answers below.
As always, I look forward to receiving your questions, so keep an eye out for our upcoming posts inviting submissions for next month’s edition. You can also reach out anytime via email.
Best wishes,
Elena Moro, EAN President
What is your five-year plan for the EAN?
The current EAN Board has established a new strategic plan for the society, setting priorities that cover a four-year period (2024-2028). You can find a detailed summary of this plan in our website: Our Priorities – ean.org. As you will see, the strategy covers the six pillars of the EAN mission, i.e., advocacy, communication, congress, education, membership, and research. This strategy represents the EAN’s direction of travel, neatly divided into areas of responsibility covered by the EAN Board members within their respective committees and roles.
This current strategic plan ensures the continuity of relevant ongoing activities and the implementation of new ones that respond to the new needs of our society.
A key aspect of the EAN’s organisational structure (see EAN Bylaws) that helps us to ensure continuity regarding our mission and key priorities is the presence of each president on the EAN Board for a period of six years, serving in three different roles for two years each in succession: president-elect, then president, and finally past president. These overlaps allow a rich exchange of experience and provide a tremendous framework that helps to keep the EAN on a steady course. This sets a close-knit and highly informed team that I am proud to lead in my two-year term.
As already presented at the beginning of my presidency, together with the EAN Board, I have consolidated previous initiatives (the Brain Health Mission, the EAN Research Strategic Plan, the Climate and Environment in Neurology task force) and developed new ones (the DEI hub, the Enhancing Neurology in Europe initiative, the Artificial Intelligence in Neurology Task Force, the Nutrition in Neurology Taks force, and the Neuroethic Working Group). These activities reflect the enthusiasm, the tremendous dedication, cohesion and strength of the current EAN Board, EAN Office, and the whole European neurological community.
When can we start submitting abstracts for the 2026 congress?
Abstract submission and registration for the EAN Congress 2026 will both open very soon this month of November 2025.
To keep up to date with all the news about our congress, from key dates to programme highlights and practical tips, make sure you are subscribed to our congress newsletter: go to the ‘my contact information’ tab within your myEAN account, review your email preferences in the right-hand column, and be sure to check the box marked ‘EAN congress announcements’!
Can you explain the new congress hosting thing?
You are surely referring to our new approach to congress co-hosting, which will start with the 2028 EAN Congress in Rotterdam.
The idea stems from our wish to involve more countries (especially the ones that do not have the capacity to host the EAN congress) in the organisation of our annual congress. We believe that this new EAN Board decision will offer a platform to the national neurological societies (NNS) to showcase their achievements and contribute to the growth of neurology in Europe. This initiative has been partly inspired by the very successful collaboration between representatives from various national neurological societies (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania) on the Co-Organising Committee for the EAN Congress 2025.
By integrating multiple European NNS into the local organisational process of our congress, we foresee an exciting opportunity for greater involvement and collaboration , creating a truly pan-European congress that reflects the diverse advancements being made in neurology throughout the continent.
To find out more about this new approach and how your national society can apply, please visit the following webpage National Neurological Societies as congress co-hosts – ean.org
The call is already open to most EAN full institutional members to apply to co-host the EAN Congress 2028. I am very much looking forward to receiving those applications and seeing how this new system brings together diverse perspectives within the framework of the ‘Home of Neurology’.
