Dear IFCN Community,
This is my last IFCN President’s Letter. The online election of the new Executive Committee (ExCo) closed last week, with 40 Societies in good standing casting their ballots. The new officers, starting their new 4-year terms at the ICCN 2022 in Geneva, are:
President: Jonathan Cole
Treasurer: Aatif Husain, incumbent
Secretary: Nortina Shahrizaila
At large delegates:
Latin America Chapter: Paulo Kimaid
Europe, Middle East and Africa Chapter: Hatice Tankisi
North America Chapter: Peter Kaplan
Asia-Oceania Chapter: Yoshikazu (Kaz) Ugawa
I will serve as the Immediate Past President, of course. And our two Journal EiCs will continue to be Ulf Ziemann and Margitta Seeck. Congratulations to every new ExCo member. The next President’s Letter will be penned by Prof. Jonathan Cole.
Some four years ago the present ExCo developed a Strategic Plan to focus the Federation’s work. The key Plan’s goals, and progress toward their main achievement, are listed below.
Education: to provide the best contemporary CNP education delivered in the most optimal format. Through the monthly free Masterclasses, a rapidly growing online video education library available to all, and the IFCN Education Fellowships, IFCN has made significant progress toward this goal.
Membership: to organize the CNP community to facilitate collaborative growth. IFCN has grown its database to over 9,000 individuals within and beyond the Societies. Regular communication, directly and through the Societies, keeps them informed on new opportunities to enhance their professional growth, network and learn.
Congress Management: to provide the best educational opportunities to the CNP community. Despite the challenges presented by COVID, IFCN is hosting a fully in-person 32nd ICCN.
Journals: to ensure that IFCN journals continue to enhance CNP research and education. The new impact factor of Clinical Neurophysiology rose from 3.708 (2020) to 4.861 (2021). In the next round according to internal calculations we expect an impact factor of ~3.8 for Clinical Neurophysiology Practice (CNP). Congratulations and thanks to both Editors-in-Chief Ulf Ziemann and Margitta Seeck, and to David Burke, founding editor of CNP.
Organizational Efficiency: to ensure the most effective management and financial structure for the IFCN. IFCN successfully moved its operations from Canada to the US. Sound financial processes, transparency and a prudent investment policy have been put in place to ensure that the Federation’s assets are being properly managed for the benefit of future generations.
With less than five weeks to go, registration for the ICCN 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland, September 4–8, continues to grow, with more registrations received daily. Please note the rapidly approaching deadline of August 4 for early registration fees, and the August 4 deadline for reserving your lodging at the Geneva Hilton, the ICCN-designated hotel. Please also note the integration of several special interest group meetings (SIG), the largest being the 8th International Brain Stimulation SIG Meeting taking place as part of ICCN 2022. The Congress encompasses 38 education courses and 66 scientific sessions, of which 38 are Brain Stim talks (both courses and sessions as a continuous track) with altogether 286 speakers.
View other IFCN components’ upcoming events on the IFCN Meetings & Events page. And please submit your items for the IFCN Meetings Calendar here.
The IFCN also fosters events of national societies when they target at an international audience. For example, the next annual conference of the German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Neuroimaging (DGKN), March 2-4, 2023, will integrate symposia in English with a focus on brain network dynamics underlying normal and disturbed brain function at different scales ranging from microcircuit to large-scale networks, on network modeling and on modulation of brain function. Submissions currently being accepted.
Ulf Ziemann’s Editor’s Choice for this month is: Siebner HR, Funke K, Aberra AS, Antal A, Bestmann S, Chen R, Classen J, Davare M, Di Lazzaro V, Fox PT, Hallett M, Karabanov AN, Kesselheim J, Beck MM, Koch G, Liebetanz D, Meunier S, Miniussi C, Paulus W, Peterchev AV, Popa T, Ridding MC, Thielscher A, Ziemann U, Rothwell JC, Ugawa Y (2022) Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain: What is stimulated? - A consensus and critical position paper. Clin Neurophysiol 140:59-97. This is indeed an open access available summary of the most relevant issues playing a role in the application of transcranial magnetic stimulation.
In Clin Neurophysiol Practice this review just appeared: Antal A, Luber B, Brem AK, Bikson M, Brunoni AR, Cohen Kadosh R, Dubljević V, Fecteau S, Ferreri F, Flöel A, Hallett M, Hamilton RH, Herrmann CS, Lavidor M, Loo C, Lustenberger C, Machado S, Miniussi C, Moliadze V, Nitsche MA, Rossi S, Rossini PM, Santarnecchi E, Seeck M, Thut G, Turi Z, Ugawa Y, Venkatasubramanian G, Wenderoth N, Wexler A, Ziemann U, Paulus W. Non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroenhancement. Clin Neurophysiol Pract. 2022 May 25;7:146-165. This is a most up-to-date summary illuminating many aspects of non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroenhancement, touching a topic which will be covered from different views in Geneva in a few weeks.
Sincerely,
Walter Paulus
IFCN President