Dear Colleagues,
Perhaps my first task in writing this should be to introduce myself. I have worked in a busy mid-sized department of Clinical Neurophysiology in a university hospital on the south coast of England for thirty years, building the department, and am also a professor at the local university. My research interests have been in sensory, motor, and cognitive neuroscience. I am also interested in the experience of chronic neurological impairment and have written several books in this area. I have served on the Council of the British Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and was its President from 2005-2008. Thereafter I was elected to the Europe, Middle East and Africa Chapter of the IFCN and became successively its secretary/treasurer and then president before serving the last four years on IFCN’s ExCo. During this time I worked on various topics but education is perhaps the most important. I hope I have some experience along the way which will be useful in my new role.
It might appear curious to start by looking back, but several people deserve our thanks for their service. Don Sanders, Ricky Kakigi and Jorge Gutierrez all retired from the IFCN Executive Committee this month (though Jorge still has important IFCN work to do). Mark Hallett also retired from ExCo after being President, Immediate Past President, as well as chair of many committees. Our thanks to them all. I would also like to thank Walter Paulus for his work these last four years as President. I am fortunate to have now his counsel as Immediate Past President and to have such a capable and hard-working new Executive Committee, of which more in subsequent letters.
Lastly, thanks are due to Margitta Seeck, with Pierre Megevand, for all their work to make our recent ICCN 2022 in Geneva such a success. Personal highlights were the three award plenary lectures and the session from the European Academy of Neurology on Sleep, which was a reciprocal symposium after the EMEAC provided a session at the EAN Congress. But equally it was a pleasure to sit, in between committee meetings, in symposia - often on topics I knew little about - and to hear people discussing their interests. It was also a joy to wander around poster sessions and chat with the presenters, often at the beginning of their careers, about their research. Our industry supporters also enjoyed the Congress, and our thanks are due to them for their support. We are very fortunate to all share a specialty combining research and practice introducing, where we can, quantitative data into clinical medicine.
In future messages I hope also to introduce the new IFCN committees as well as report on what the Executive Committee is doing on your behalf. I realise time is precious and I will endeavour to be succinct. On the other hand, lots is happening, so there will, no doubt, be lots to say.
With Warm Regards,
Jonathan Cole, IFCN President