Research agenda. The European Brain Council have updated their 2006 consensus document on brain research (Di Luca,M. et al. 2011 Consensus document on European brain research. Eur. J. Neurosci. 33, 768-818). In a 50 page paper covering 43 topics Monica Di Luca and colleagues, including Past EFNS President Jes Olesen, have focused on seven fields:

In 2011 I performed a scientific fellowship on the role of the plasminogen system in pneumococcal meningitis at the Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, in Munich, Germany which was funded by an EFNS scientific fellowship grant.

Space is limited – please make sure to register early via the congress website! www.efns.org/efns2012 Saturday, September 8, 2012 9.30-11.00
Free Teaching Course: How do I examine…? 11.30 – 13.30
Teaching Course 1: Movement disorders – basic clinical knowledge
Teaching… Continue Reading

At the last two EFNS congresses (Geneva & Budapest) we made recordings of selected presentations, launching the concept of “webcasting”. This has proved to be valuable reference material, especially for those who couldn’t make it to the congress, missed certain… Continue Reading

We thank all congress participants who filled in the evaluation forms at the 15th EFNS Congress in Budapest – Your feedback helps us to improve our congresses and scientific programme! Among all evaluation forms received, five free registrations to the… Continue Reading

Countries of the European Union (EU) have been harmonized to a single market with free movement of citizens, goods, services and finances. This historic achievement also greatly facilitates training abroad.
The European Board of Neurology (EBN, www.uems-neuroboard.org) initiated an exchange… Continue Reading

EBC confirms it will go ahead with the Year of the Brain in 2014 but withdraws from the institutionally led process. EBC communicated at length with European Commission President Barroso, his team and the different Directorate Generals over the last… Continue Reading

Abstract: Objective: Mutations in the FUS gene on chromosome 16 have been recently discovered as a cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). This study determined the frequency and identities of FUS gene mutations in a cohort of Italian patients… Continue Reading

Luca Pani is Director General of the Italian Medicines Agency. Paolo Siviero is Head of the Department of Economic Strategy and Pharmaceutical policy – Italian Medicines Agency.

by Markus Gschwind The patient was a 51-year-old car mechanic, without any previous illness apart from untreated arterial hypertension. One morning, on waking very early to go to work, he felt a strange dizziness. During breakfast he fell asleep twice… Continue Reading

The Challenge Neuropathy in Parkinson disease: prevelance and determinants
Abstract:
Objective: To ascertain the prevalence and determinants of neuropathy in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), in particular, the roles of vitamin B12 and levodopa exposure.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional… Continue Reading

Dear Colleagues, In these hard times of budget restrictions, competition for funding is increasing. The committees designated for funding allocation are asked to evaluate ideas, proposals, projects and their feasibility. Questions such as “Personal experience of the Applicant” or “Scientific… Continue Reading

This is the first page of a monthly series. A President needs a strong team. We have an excellent Management Committee and dedicated office staff. In addition to ad hoc email communication and occasional teleconferences we meet twice a year - once at our annual congress and once at our Head Office in Vienna. We held our spring meeting on Saturday March 3rd in Vienna when a long agenda kept us out of the spring sunshine. The agenda covered the activities of each of our liaison, training and education and scientific committees, finance and future plans. The following are of special interest:

The EFNS Guideline Production Group has been working for almost 2 years. It consists of Magdalena Keindl a biostatistician, Julia Scheidl from the EFNS Head Office and myself as the chair of the EFNS Scientific Committee.

The tradition of the EFNS grants within the “Department to Department” programme will continue also in 2012. We are aware of the tremendous help the hosting departments give their guests. This often implies convenient accommodations, help with visa issuing, help… Continue Reading