Attendance at the 44th annual Irish Neurological Association meeting in Jury's Hotel, Cork, reflected the very important place this meeting has in the Irish Neuroscience calendar. Delegates and presenters from all of the neuroscience centres in Ireland - Belfast, Ulster Hospital, Craigavon, Galway, Dublin, Sligo, Waterford, Limerick and of course Cork , came together to present and discuss the very exciting research currently being carried out in Irish hospitals and in international centres. Practitioners and researchers from neurology, neurosurgery, neuropathology, paediatric neurology, neuroradiology, neurophysiology, neuropsychology and neuro rehabilitation delivered presentations. To view the complete programme please click on the link to follow Programme
Professor Caitriona McLean, Director of the Department of Anatomical Pathology, The Alfred Hospital, Victoria, Australia delivered the Callaghan lecture entitled 'Brainbanking- forming a network'. Dr. Bermingham, INA President commented 'Prof. McLean's talk on brainbanking was extremely interesting, with fascinating illustrative cases of the importance of a brainbank network and with good practical information about legal aspects of the Australian network as well as her experience of funding such a service'.
Mrs. Ann Callaghan, Dr. Niamh Bermingham, President Irish Neurological Association, Professor Caitriona McLean, Mr. Mike Callaghan, and Dr. Catherine Keohane, Dean, Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience.
Prof. McLean is Director of the National Brain Bank platform for Neurosciences Australia and Consultant Neuropathologist for the National CJD registry, the NH&MRC dementia brain bank and the Victoria State Neuromuscular service.
Awards
The very high standard of all presentations was particularly apparent in the poster section, with two of the five prizes being awarded to poster presenters.
Harold Millar Prize for best overall presentation was awarded to Dr. Oliver Tobin for his presentation 'Identification of stroke mimics in the emergency department'.
Dr. Catherine Keohane, Dean, Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, with Dr. Oliver Tobin, recipient of the Harold Millar Prize for best overall presentation, and Dr. Niamh Berminham, INA President.
John Kirker Prize for best Epilepsy related presentation was awarded to Dr. Stephen Hunt 'Levetiracetam Therapy In Human Pregnancy. Updated Experience From The Uk Epilepsy And Pregnancy Register'.
Biogen Idec Prize for best Multiple Sclerosis related paper was awarded to Dr. Margaret O'Brien and Dr. Roisin Lonergan 'OAS in Multiple Sclerosis: not just a haplotype association'.
Best Neurosurgical Prestentation was awarded to Mr. Michael Kelleher for his presentation 'Outcomes and failures of minimally invasive decompression for focal lumbar spinal stenosis in patients with and without deformity'.
Best Poster Presentation was awarded to Dr. J. McNulty for his presentation 'Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Medial Longitudinal Fasciculus (MLF) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients with Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia (INO)'.
Dr. Bermingham stated 'The standard of submission at this years' meeting was very high, with the judges noting the excellent quality both of the work and the presentations. All platform presenters spoke very well, with great clarity of content and kept to time allowing smooth running of the meeting. The posters similarly were of a very high standard and excellently presented'.
Dr. Kevin Murphy, Sligo General Hospital and Dr. Peter Boers, Mid West Regional Hospital, Limerick who were among the judges at the Irish Neurological Association Meeting, with Dr. Niamh Bermingham, INA President.
Thanking Dr. Bermingham for hosting an excellent meeting, Dr. Catherine Keohane, Dean of the Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience noted that the Irish Neurological Association meeting will be held in Dublin in 2009
