A letter from our IFCN President
Whether it is our congresses, on-line video library, Masterclass or learned reviews and research papers in our two journals, IFCN is primarily about education. So, our IFCN Fellowships are an important part of our activity. This year we received an exceptional number of highly quality applications from around the world, which we hope reflects the health of our specialty and that our awards are perceived as being well suited to the needs of our trainees. The Education and Research Committees therefore faced a particularly challenging task in deciding on the awards. The process was rigorous, with applications both scored for various factors and then compared both for their own promise but also geographic and other considerations. I am delighted to announce that the following have been awarded Fellowship.
IFCN Fellowships in Education, 2025
Abdulrahaman Zarzor from Iraq will study IONM at Duke University, USA, and then help educate his junior colleagues on this technique on his return. Mercedes Chiesa -Ferreira from Uruguay will study genetic and autoimmune neuropathies at the Ribeiro Preto Center in Brazil. Ekatarine Kurua from Georgia will study advanced EEG techniques and epilepsy management at Necker Hospital in France. Several centers in her home country lack these advanced techniques. Nargis Usmonova Amanova from Uzbekistan will train at LMU University Hospital in Germany, in IONM to enhance this service once returned home. Our two Educational Africa to Africa winners are Desmond Koffie from Ghana, who will be a clinical epilepsy fellow at Groote Schuur Hospital in South Africa focusing on adult electroencephalography and long-term EEG monitoring and Marcelinus Kilanga, from Tanzania, will focus on EEG, EMG, and NCS at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
IFCN Fellowships in Research, 2025
Flavius Bratu, (Romania) will research SEEG signal entropy analysis in postictal state at Service Neurophysiologie de Clinique in France. Masa Kovacevic will travel from Serbia to the Medical University in Vienna, Austria to expand her understanding of stereo-electroencephalography in presurgical epilepsy evaluation. Masaya Togo (Japan) will continue his training in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Science at Stanford University. His research is in neuromodulation therapy for epilepsy. Totsapol Surawattanawong, from Thailand, will continue his work in Kyoto, Japan on advanced wide-band EEG analysis, seizure prediction techniques, and integration of biomarkers in clinical practice. Yukiyoshi Sumi from Japan will continue to study RBD and other neurological sleep disorders in the Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria.
Congratulations to all the IFCN Fellowship winners. Thanks also to the committee members for their hard work on this.
IFCN Teaching Courses
As you may have seen from our Executive Director Kim Zaiss’s newsletter, IFCN workshops have been taking place.
1. Global Outreach Initiative/IFCN Visiting Professor Programme
As one of the activities of our Global Outreach Program, Professor Ayat Allah Farouk Hussein, delivered a workshop including EMG and NCV demonstration in English and Arabic languages in Libya 27-28th May 2025, Tripoli Central Hospital. There were two days dedicated to EMG & NCV with technical basics, hands-on and Case discussion. Other trainers included Dr. Mohamed E. Eltwayeb, Dr. Mabrouka Alqreeri and Dr. Eman Abdelkarim.
2.IFCN Society of Neuromuscular Imaging (ISNMI) SIG Workshop, Ottawa, Canada
This year, the IFCN Society of Neuromuscular Imaging organized their first hands-on neuromuscular ultrasound workshop in Canada, together with Dr. Shahin Khayambashi from Vancouver and Dr. Grayson Beecher from Edmonton. The faculty included Dr. Omar Khan from McMaster, Dr. Nick Miller from University of Manitoba, Dr. Theo Mobach from University of Calgary, and an international faculty consisting of Dr. Andrea Boon from Mayo Clinic, Dr. Sarada Sakamuri from Stanford University, Dr. Monika Krzesniak-Swinarska from University of Colorado, and Dr. Nens van Alfen from Radboud University Medical Center. It was expanded from 50 to 72 participants to accommodate colleagues from Canada and beyond. Over two days, participants were introduced to basic scanning principles, indications, and evidence for the use of neuromuscular ultrasound in everyday practice, and some more advanced topics such as brachial plexus and small nerve scanning, all supported by case discussions, Q&As and two afternoons of hands-on practice. It was generously supported by the IFCN, Ipsen, Cadwell, Grifols, Canon Medical, and Fujifilm Sonosite and Cadwell.
It is gratifying that the Global Outreach team is planning several further courses this year, in Latin America, Africa and Asia, while the ISNMI is, I understand, planning to put on more of these courses around the world as and when opportunities arise.
ICCN 2026 Cartagena
Planning for the congress is well under way. The ICCN Scientific Committee invites proposals for the scientific symposia sessions for the 34th International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology (ICCN 2026), which will take place at the Centro de Convenciones Cartagena de Indias Convention Center in Cartagena, Colombia, September 8-12, 2026. The call for Symposia is open until September 15, 2025. For a list of topics and to submit a proposal CLICK HERE. Please visit the ICCN 2026 website for additional information about the 34th International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology ICCN 2026
The call for Abstracts for the congress will open later this year, so please look for an announcement.
ICCN Video library
IFCN is thrilled to announce that we have added the ICCN 2024 recorded lectures to the IFCN educational video library. These are available to IFCN members as a beneficial educational resource. To view: ICCN 2024 Recorded Lecture Library . Note, you must log in with your IFCN username and password to access it.
Masterclass with Professor Steve Vucic
IFCN continues its Masterclass series with a talk from Professor Steve Vucic from the University of Sydney on Saturday, July 19, 2025. His talk will be on ‘Utility of threshold tracking TMS in motor neuron disease.’ He will discuss his work on the role of threshold tracking with TMS in the diagnosis of ALS/MND. To register: TO REGISTER
Chapter Congresses and more…
Please be reminded that the European Congress is coming up in London, September 9th-12th, and is taking place in the Methodist Central Hall, right opposite the Houses of Parliament. The Asia Oceania Congress is in Taipei, Taiwan, November 21 - 23, 2025. The IFCN executive committee looks forward to attending the Congress in Taipei.
These are our big two congresses but there are many other teaching sessions too numerous to mention. Please keep an eye on our webpage advertising them; IFCN Events Calendar
Lastly, whether in the north where it is summer holiday time, or the south where any break will be a winter vacation, I wish you all a relaxing time if you do take time off over the next couple of months. The next letter will be mid-September, after the European Congress.
With best wishes,
Jonathan Cole
