Members of the WFN Applied Reserach Group (ARG) from many different countries are active in their regions. In 2012, we were focused mainly on Central and Eastern European countries, and we organized several meetings.

As part of these activities, members of the ARG were active in their research, related to importance of delivery of neurological services, educational activities and spreading the knowledge to our colleagues in many parts of the world. Vida Demarin was active at the Eighth Congress of the Society for the Study of Neuroregeneration and Neuroplasticity (SSNN) in March 2012 in Dubrovnik; Management of Pain in November 2012 in Moscow; Neurological Meeting on Stroke in March 2012 in Ljubljana, Slovenia; Challenges on Stroke in April 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia; and Neurological Symposium on Headache in May 2012 in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to mention just a few of them.

Our gorgeous city of Dubrovnik was the host of the 23rd Summer Stroke School with international participation June 4-8. For the first time, the summer school was under the auspices of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The usual and proud auspicates are Inter-University Center Dubrovnik, Croatian Stroke Society, Medical School University of Zagreb, Central and Eastern European Stroke Society and Research Group on Delivery of Neurological Services (RGODNS) of World Federation of Neurology (WFN). The joint meeting of ARG ODNS and the 23rd Summer Stroke School was organized in Interuniversity Center in June 2012 in Dubrovnik.

The aim of the course was to support the cooperation and promote exchange of knowledge and experience among participants from different countries. This meeting shed new light on epidemiology of stroke, its primary and secondary prevention, diagnostics, therapy and rehabilitation. All participants had a unique opportunity to share their national stroke data and discuss about specific stroke problems of their country. Countries of the East and West Europe had an opportunity to work together on solving problems related to stroke, whether they were medical, economical or of some other nature. We can’t skip mentioning that all the hard work was awarded by rich social program during the evenings. We look forward to 2014 course already.

The 52nd International Neuropsychiatric Pula Congress (INPC) was held June 20-23, 2012 under the auspices of the Croatian president Ivo Josipovic. The congress is traditionally held in Verudela Hotels Brioni and Histria, and organizers are: Kuratorium International Neuropsychiatric Pula Congress, Sestre Milosrnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, and this year, the Department of Medical Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The main sponsors of the congress were the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, the city of Graz, the city of Zagreb and Istria County. This year, more than 350 international particpants attended the congress.

The main themes of the congress were recent achievements in restorative neurology, new advances in psychopathology — the interaction of biological and psychological factors. The theme of the joint meeting of the International Neuropsychiatric Pula Congress in the Section of Neuroscience Alps-Adria was discussions about different therapeutic procedures. Besides the main topic during this year’s congress, numerous symposia were also held: roundtables and workshops in collaboration with the Central and Eastern European Stroke Society (CEESS), World Federation of Neurology, Research Group on Delivery of Neurological Services (WFN RG ODNS) and one topic symposium related to dilemmas in therapies for different neurological disease (stroke, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease) and the Croatian branch of the Italian Cochrane Centre (CBICC) on the topic: Introduction to the Cochrane systematic review and application of evidence-based medicine in everyday practice, the meeting of the European Society of young neurologists and residents (European Association of Young Neurologists and Trainess – EAYNT), European Summer School of psychopathology in Pula, fifth Pula International Symposium on Epilepsy, neuro-otological course of vertigo, the European standards for doctoral studies in the field of neurology, a symposium on forensic psychiatry, the German Symposium on the ongoing training in neuropsychiatry (Deutschsprachiges Neuropsychiatrisches Fortbildungs Symposium), a symposium on the quality of life of psychiatric patients, a symposium on connecting providers in neurorehabilitation, a symposium on the role and experiences of nurses in the care of patients with incontinence, symposium on deep brain stimulation, interactive school about headache and symposium on palliative care.

We are proud to announce that this year’s 53rd INPC Congress in Pula June 19-22, 2013, had the endorsement of the WFN. We are grateful for all efforts related to ARG organization and its activities.

I’m deeply grateful to the WFN for awarding me the Junior Traveling Fellowship in 2013 to visit the European Stroke Conference held May 27-31, in London.

Shaily Singh

The conference was attended by more than 3,500 delegates from  around  the world. Following is the brief outline of the meeting and its structure and discussion items.

The meeting was broadly divided into different themes, with parallel symposia, teaching courses, debates and controversies, oral paper sessions, poster presentations and plenary lectures.

The various themes were acute stroke treatment both interventional and medical, intracerebral hemorrhage, translational neuroscience, arteriopathies, childhood stroke, rehabilitation, small vessel disease, imaging, neuroprotection, outcomes and quality of health services, risk factors, anticoagulation in stroke, and alternative therapies to name a few.

The plenary sessions were on the awards on stroke research and also new trial results announced, including INTERACT 2, SPS3, STITCH 2, imaging results of IST3, etc.

A huge number of research papers and posters were presented during this meeting.

There were parallel halls for oral presentations with different themes to select the area of stroke one is interested in. The timing, discipline and attendance was par excellence.

I had one abstract accepted as first author and was a co-author on one other.

Special e-poster sessions with presentations and question-and-answer sessions were undertaken for the first time for highly rated abstracts. There was a lot of interaction during my e-poster presentation and new ideas generated.

Overall, this meeting was an excellent feast of stroke academics and gave me a great opportunity to present our institutional research, to interact with other stroke researchers from around the world and to collaborate for future research.

Vladimir Hachinski

When Johan Aarli, my predecessor as president of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), first mentioned that he was writing a history of the WFN, I realized that this was an important task. However, I did not expect that institutional history would be very exciting.

As Aarli began sharing the chapters that he was writing, I happily realized that I was totally wrong. It is a fascinating book that has gained from the author’s strategy of creating a context by describing what was occurring in the world, then what was happening in the world of the brain sciences and practice and then addressing the specific story of the WFN at different times.

One of his interesting findings is the crucially important role that the National Institute of Health played in the launching of the WFN. The book describes colorful personalities, crises and both generic and specific issues. One could easily conclude at times “same plot, different players.”

The past WFN president gives a lively account of the history of the WFN up to the end of his tenure. I offer a provisional account of the present of the WFN in the accompanying reprinted article that I wrote at the request of the Editor of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, Bryan Young. The future of the WFN will be determined in Vienna, where a new president, a new vice president, a new secretary-general and one new trustee will be elected. There are multiple candidates for all of the roles, reflecting a healthy interest of individuals in leadership positions for the WFN. Whether the new officers will build on the leadership role that the WFN has achieved with the major world brain organizations during this administration, or revert to a more traditional and limited role will be conditioned by the WFN’s past and present.

In addition to crucial elections, the World Neurology Congress in Vienna promises to be exceptional. The scientific program and teaching courses are of the highest quality, and the congress will be enhanced by the presence of another author: Eric Kandel, the Noble Prize winner, will speak about the highlights of his recent book “The Age of Insight.” Johan Aarli’s book on the history of the WFN, titled “The WFN: The First Half Century” will not yet be available, but can be ordered at the congress.

Vienna has its own attractions beyond that of the congress, and we expect a record number of attendees.

Looking forward to seeing you in Vienna!

The wonderful city of Dubrovnik was the host of the 24th Summer Stroke School with international participation June 3-8. The summer school was held under the auspices of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The usual and proud auspicates were Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik, Croatian Stroke Society, Medical School University of Zagreb, Central and Eastern European Stroke Society and Applied Research Group on Delivery of Neurological Services (RGODNS) of World Federation of Neurology (WFN).

Course Director Vida Demarin, fellow of Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (Zagreb, Croatia), Professor Roman Haberl (Munich, Germany), Professor Kurt Niederkorn (Graz, Austria), Professor Tatjana Rundek (Miami, USA) and Professor Zlatko Trkanjec (Zagreb, Croatia) have once again shown that Croatia is one of Europe’s centers of knowledge. The course gathered many experts from around the world who unselfishlessly shared their clinical and personal experience and knowledge with course participants.

The aim of the course once again supported the cooperation and promoted the exchange of knowledge and experience among participants from different countries. This meeting shed a new light on epidemiology of stroke, its primary and secondary prevention, diagnostics, therapy and rehabilitation. All participants had a unique opportunity to share their national stroke data and discuss specific stroke problems of their country. Countries of East and West Europe had an opportunity to work together on solving problems related to stroke, whether they were medical, economical or of some other nature.

The diverse scientific program embraced different aspects of stroke, from the importance of spreading knowledge about stroke, stroke prevention in 2013, prevention of stroke in atrial fibrillation, a new era, IMT/plaque, the same or different phenotypes, recent advances in ultrasound diagnosis, dissection of carotid and vertebral arteries as a cause of stroke, aortich atheroma as a risk factor for stroke, sensory impairments after stroke, silent brain infraction, thrombectomy in acute stroke, gender differences in stroke, detection of cerebral emboli using transcranial doppler, vascular mild cognitive impairment, gut — your second brain, diagnosis and treatment of vertebral artery stenosis, examination after stroke, postpartum stroke, advanced glycation end products (AGE) and their role in carotid atherogenesis, and many more interesting topics.

All of the hard work was awarded by a rich social and cultural program: an excursion to the island of Lokrum, a violin recital by Midori Komachi organized by Uta Schneider in honor of Professor Vida Demarin in Rectors Palace in the heart of Dubrovnik, and the closing night of this Summer Stroke School that offered flavors and tastes of traditional Mediterranean tasty and healthy foods in the peaceful atmosphere of Dubrovniks’s peninsula Babin Kuk. Altogether, it was a worthwhile and interesting scientific and social program and once more a successful Summer Stroke School. We look forward to the 25th Summer Stroke School June 9-13, 2014.