Articles – Page 24

Report From the Winners of the Ninth Tournament of the Minds at the XXV World Congress of Neurology 2021

The Colosseum, an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome, is one of the new seven wonders of the world. We, the winners of the Ninth Tournament of the Minds (TOM) 2021 at the XXV World Congress of Neurology, organized by the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), would like to thank the WFN and the quiz masters for the exhilarating sessions in a virtual Colosseum!

We enjoyed the adrenaline-oozing experience and winning the intellectual gladiatorial contest. “TOM” has given us fame and recognition akin to triumphing in a combat in the largest standing amphitheater. The show, like “munera,” was both informative and worthwhile.

Quiz masters made sure it was a level playing field by providing questions from different neurology subspecialties, flavored with images, histopathology slides, and videos, improvising at each turn. This kept us on our toes throughout the three days of quizzing.

It broadened our horizon, sharpened our reflexes, and gave us international acclaim. We salute the other contestants of this cerebral war who helped to whet our cognitive edges.

Our mentors and institutions were proud that we were trained appropriately to battle and emerge victorious in an international cauldron.

All four of us did our medical graduation in the same institute, Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India. We all did our MD in internal medicine (three-year course) followed by DM in neurology (three-year course) and subsequently did fellowship training. We are working in our subspecialities of interest (stroke, epilepsy, movement disorder, demyelinating disorders) as consultants at three different, though adjacent, institutes situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Dr. Suresh Chandran is at Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Dr. Ajith Cherian and Dr. Divya K.P. are at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences (SCTIMST), and Dr. Dileep Ramachandran is at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram (TMC).

We train DM residents and post-doctoral fellowship students in our institutes. We believe that this colossal experience would help us in our future endeavors.

Once again, thank you for the exposure, and we look forward to meeting you all in the future. •

WFN eLearning Hub for Global Virtual Education

By Morris Freedman, Kimberly Karlshoej, Steven L. Lewis, Wolfgang Grisold, Marianne de Visser and Walter Struhal

The World Federation of Neurology (WFN) will soon launch a novel eLearning platform global virtual education. Called the WFN eLearning Hub, this platform will facilitate access and dissemination of freely available clinical and research educational neurology content in the form of high-quality rounds, teaching seminars, webinars, master classes, and related academic activities.

This will be accomplished by providing links to these events that will be hosted at centers across the world within WFN member countries. The goal is to span all neurological subspecialties. The content will be available live and as recorded videos.

The educational material will be freely available to all neurologists, neurology trainees, primary care health care workers, and other health care professionals across the world, and be updated with the addition of new material on a regular basis for recurring events such as teaching rounds.

A 6-month pilot will be carried out prior to fully launching the WFN eLearning Hub. The pilot will target a small number of educational events and will provide access to the following:

Epilepsy and Epilepsy-Surgery Case Discussions (South Africa)
Inspiring People in Neurosciences (India)
International Behavioral Neurology Videoconference Rounds (Canada)
Indian Academy of Neurology’s Master Classes and Fundamental Courses
Japanese Neuropathology Society’s Curriculum in Neuropathology
WFN-African Academy of Neurology (AFAN) Education Day on Stroke
WFN-AFAN, International Headache Society, Global Patient Advocacy Coalition: Education Day on Headache
WFN-FINE Neuroinfection Series (India)

The WFN eLearning Hub is a joint initiative involving the WFN Trustees, Education Committee, eCommunications Committee, and Standards Committee. It is designed to improve the level of knowledge among health care professionals globally and will greatly enhance the role of the WFN in international education.

Access to recorded material will be available seven days a week, 24 hours a day regardless of time zone. The goal is for the WFN website to be the “go to” source for neurologists and other health care professionals across the world for accessing neurological educational material from leading centers across the world. Moreover, the access will be freely available. •

Morris Freedman and Marianne de Visser are trustees of the WFN. Steven Lewis is a trustee of the WFN and chair of the WFN Education Committee. Kimberly Karlshoej is WFN strategy and program director. Wolfgang Grisold is secretary general and president-elect of the WFN. Walter Struhal is chair of the WFN eCommunications Committee.

Link to access WFN e-Learning Hub

https://wfneurology.org/E-learning-hub

Interested in the History of Neurology?

By P.J. Koehler MD, PhD, FAAN

P.J. Koehler MD, PhD, FAAN

Since December 2020, the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences (ISHN) organizes monthly virtual (Zoom) presentations, every third Wednesday of the month, usually at 10 p.m. (Amsterdam, 4 p.m. New York).

Meetings are recorded and sent to interested colleagues living in a part of the globe, where it will be night. Typical meetings last about one hour, including a 40-minute presentation, followed by a usually vivid discussion. Here is a short impression of what we have been doing during the past year

In December, we started with a lecture by Paul Foley, who has a PhD in the history of medicine from the University of Würzburg (Germany) and is currently scientific and research editor of Medical Journal of Australia. He published a comprehensive book on Encephalitis Lethargica. The Mind and Brain Virus (2018). His presentation was on the interesting history of the Schwann cell.

In January, we had a presentation on “John Yerbury Dent, Apomorphine and addiction(s): An Unfinished History,” by Manon Auffret, who is at the “Behavior & Basal Ganglia Research Unit,” University of Rennes, France.

In February, Marco Piccolini, who was professor of general physiology at the University of Ferrara in Italy, talked about “Scientists on the run at the time of the ‘racial laws’: the case of Giuseppe Levi and Rita Levi-Montalcini.” (figure 1)

Nobel Laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini (Courtesy, Becker Library, Washington University, St. Louis (MS)

In March, we had Paul Eling (University of Nijmegen, Netherlands) and Stan Finger (Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri). They talked about “Gall, God, and Religion,” a presentation that aroused quite some discussion. Chris Boes, neurologist at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), who was recently appointed professor of the history of medicine, talked about “Harry Lee Parker: Games Lost and Won on the Playing Fields of Neurology.”

In May, Frank Stahnisch, professor of the history of medicine in Calgary, Canada, gave a presentation on “A New Field in Mind. A History of Interdisciplinarity in the Early Brain Sciences.”

Following the summer break, we continued in September with Gagandeep Singh, who is consultant neurologist associated with Dayanand Medical College & Hospital in Ludhiana, India. He gave a presentation on “The Visual Aura – Epileptic or Migrainous. A Historical Perspective.”

In October, Edward Fine, University of Buffalo, NY, gave his talk on “Origins of Comprehensive Care of Persons With Epilepsy in the U.S.”

If these subjects arouse your interest in the history of neurology and you wish to attend one or more of the meetings to come, see www.ishn.org or ISHN Monthly Zoom Meeting | Neurohistory.nl. Please send an email to pkoehler@neurohistory.nl. Persons who would like to present a lecture may write too. Open slots are available from May 2022. •

P.J. Koehler MD, PhD, FAAN, edits the history column for World Neurology and is chair of Specialty Group for the History of the Neurosciences for the WFN and co-editor of Journal of the History of the Neurosciences.

E-mail: pkoehler@neurohistory.nl or p.koehler@maastrichtuniversity.nl

His website is at: www.neurohistory.nl/

Forthcoming Lectures

2021
Nov. 17	Georgina Chapman: The Story of Prosopagnosia: From a Curiosity to a Commonality
Dec. 15	Edward Reynolds: Robert Bentley Todd’s Contribution to Neurology and Neurosciences

2022
Jan. 19	Rohit Das: Neurology During the Great War
Feb. 16	John Jarrell: Historical Contribution of the Ovary to Hysteria; The Paradox of Ovarian Compression Explored

In Memoriam: Sergey Lobzin (1958-2021)

Prof. Sergey Lobzin, head of neurology chair named after Academician S.N. Davidenkov died unexpectedly on Oct. 19, 2021, at the age of 63.

Prof. Sergey was born on July 9, 1958, in Kronstadt, the town and naval base on Kotlin Island, just west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. He graduated from the Military Medical Academy named after S. M. Kirov, the oldest higher education institution of military medicine in the Russian Federation in 1981.

On Aug. 18, 1982, he married Irina. Subsequently, he had two of his beautiful daughters, who were the most important part of his life.

After he served in the Navy, he specialized in neurology, and then was sent to continue serving in Afghanistan, where he was a military neurologist in real combat conditions. In 1993, Prof. Lobzin received his PhD degree in medicine and continued his scientific activities in different areas of neuroscience, paying the greatest attention to angioneurology. In 2006, he was titled as a professor and worked in the Military Medical Academy.

Prof. Lobzin completed military service with the rank of colonel. Further, he has headed the chair of neurology named after Academician S.N. Davidenkov since the foundation of North-Western State Medical University. He was also vice dean of the Therapeutic Faculty of the North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, a member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Scientific Society of Neurologists, a member of the Presidium of the North-Western Society for the Pain Study, and a member of the World Federation of Neurology and the European Academy of Neurology, academician of the Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Prof. Lobzin will be forever in our hearts as an honest, friendly, cheerful, and optimistic person, as well as the scientist with great creative potential and organizational skills. He trained many qualified neurologists. He was the author of many scientific papers (more than 300), books, and methodological tutorials for students and residents of neurology.

He began and actively developed close scientific and practical cooperation of the team headed by him as neurology chair with leading scientists from all over the world. The annual congress “Davidenkov Readings,” held under his brilliant leadership, has become a remarkable event in Russian scientific life. World famous neurologists took part in congresses with lectures. Every year, the “Davidenkov Readings” attracted an increasing number of neurologists and neuroscientists from the Russian Federation and other countries.

The sudden and tragic death of Prof. Lobzin is an irreparable loss not only to his family and colleagues, but also to the entire Russian scientific and medical society. The memory of this great scientist, teacher, mentor, and friend will remain in the hearts of his colleagues, friends, and followers forever. •

The WFN Membership Committee and the Autonomic Disorders Specialty Group

By David B. Vodusek and Max Hilz Wolfgang Grisold, editor

Wolfgang Grisold

This issue of World Neurology introduces a committee and a specialty group, providing a better insight into the work of the WFN, and also providing opportunities to become involved in the WFN.

The Membership Committee is chaired by Dr. David Vodusek from Slovenia, who has outstanding experience in international scientific neurological societies. The role of the Membership Committee is to foster membership and provide care of members. Because not all countries of the world are WFN members, this role is important, as membership also fosters the development of neurology.

The Membership Committee and the Specialty Group for Autonomic Disorders have described their activity, and you will find outlines authored by the chairs below.

Prof. Vodusek: Dr. David B. Vodušek is emeritus professor of neurology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Faculty of Medicine. He held the position of medical director in the division of neurology at the University Medical Center Ljubljana in Slovenia between 1996 and 2018, and continues as consultant neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist.

David B. Vodušek

Dr. Vodušek was born and raised in Slovenia. He received his medical degree (1976), and his PhD (1989) from the University of Ljubljana and trained also in the department for clinical neurophysiology, Uppsalla, Sweden, and the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, U.K. Dr. Vodušek was a visiting assistant professor at Baylor College in Houston, Texas (1982-83), in the New York University Medical Center, NY (1991-1993), and a consultant in Ibn Sina Hospital, Kuwait (1986-1987).

Dr. Vodušek is a member of the Slovene Medical Academy, the Slovene and German Neurological Associations, the British Association of Clinical Neurophysiology, the European Academy of Neurology (FEAN), and the European Federation of Autonomic Societies.

Dr. Vodušek‘s research interests include uroneurology, clinical neurophysiology, and peripheral neurology; he has authored more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, many chapters in international editions, and co-edited the 130th volume of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology series (Neurology of Sexual and Bladder Disorders).

Membership Committee

The mission of the World Federation of Neurology is to foster quality neurology and brain health worldwide, which is made easier by the fact that WFN represents 120 professional societies in all regions of the world, and each society registers its own individual member neurologists with us. Currently, there are 75 countries that are not WFN members. Of these 75 countries, 32 are from Africa, nine from Asia, one from Central America, eight from Europe, 10 from North America, 12 from Oceania and three from South America.

The enthusiasm for fostering quality neurology should bring to WFN all those wishing to better the fate of neurological patients worldwide and are not yet members. This goal WFN seeks to achieve by promoting global neurological education and training, focused particularly on the under-resourced parts of the world.

The purpose of the Membership Committee is to care for all aspects of membership: to scrutinize the eligibility of new members, to manage and process new membership applications by implementing the WFN membership regulations, and to provide strategic guidance to retain and grow the membership with the requisite knowledge, skills, abilities, and values to fulfill the WFN’s mission and goals.

It is a task of the committee to review and discuss any inquiry into matters pertaining to membership, and to help the WFN Ttrustees with decisions in such matters.

WFN will continue with efforts to attract new members: national societies or neurologists from countries that have not yet applied, acknowledging the fact that there are objective obstacles in many that cannot be overcome at this time (lack of a national neurological society, lack of neurologists, political issues).

The WFN hopes that existing members would participate in seeking solutions to bring new members to WFN, particularly convincing them of the value of being part of our organization. Members of neighboring regions would better recognize the different barriers for individual potential members to join the WFN.

To assist with considerations of neurologists in a country not yet being within WFN, a quote from the Articles of Association of World Federation of Neurology follows:

From the Articles of Association of World Federation of Neurology:

A national neurological society of any country which is not a Member Society may become a Member Society if recommended by the Trustees and approved at a meeting of the Council of Delegates
Five or more qualified neurologists resident in a country or countries without a Member Society or Member Societies may together form a group and that group may become a Member Society if recommended by the Trustees and approved at a meeting of the Council of Delegates

Applications from societies that do not yet belong are always welcome and should be sent in the first instance to the London Office. The application is a formal procedure, requiring several documents.

The committee has 10 members, which are listed on the WFN website at wfneurology.org/about-us/committees.

Specialty Group on the Autonomic Nervous System

The specialty group (SG) on the autonomic system has greatly expanded under the leadership of Prof Hilz, and is currently aiming for increased cooperation with other scientific societies to study and promote the autonomic nervous system.

Max Hilz

Prof. Dr.med.habil. Dr. h.c. Max J. Hilz, M.D., FEAN, FAAN specialized in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, neurological intensive care and disorders of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). He was professor of neurology, medicine, and psychiatry at New York University in New York, City, New York, chair in autonomic Neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, U.K., and until April 2019 professor of neurology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Since June 2015, he is also adjunct professor of neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York. He chairs the Autonomic Disorders Research Group of the World Federation of Neurology and is past-chair of the ANS Panel of the European Academy of Neurology and of the Autonomic Section of the American Academy of Neurology, among others.

Prof. Hilz also serves as advisor to the European Medicines Agency, on issues related to the autonomic nervous system. He co-authored several guidelines, and he published more than 300 original and review articles in peer-reviewed journals, and book-chapters.

Specialty Group on Autonomic Disorders: Under-represented Though Omnipresent

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) disorders accompany almost every disease, be it just a fever or a fatal malignancy. Yet, ANS teaching during medical school and post-graduate specialization is coarsely neglected and often limited to a few hours.

However, our patients deserve that we know how to identify and alleviate ANS dysfunction because the patient’s quality of life deteriorates drastically if “standard” neurological signs and symptoms such as sensory loss, motor weakness, or spasticity are increasingly accompanied by bladder, bowel or sexual dysfunction, altered visual accommodation, compromised thermoregulation, hypo- or hyperhidrosis, or the inability to stand up due to lost blood pressure control, to mention just a few of the numerous autonomic disorders.

The WFN considers within its mission to provide the appropriate platform to promote neurologic training and standards, clinical skills, and education on a global level.

There are several societies and sections focusing on ANS disorders, such as the American Autonomic Society, the European Federation of Autonomic Societies, or the ANS sections within the European Academy of Neurology, and the American Academy of Neurology. Yet, the WFN seems best suited to advance ANS teaching and training on a global level, and thus to foster the mission of its still fledgling Autonomic Disorders Subspecialty Group (ADSG).

ANS sessions and teaching courses repeatedly had been part of the bi-annual World Congress of Neurology (WCN). Currently, the ADSG has 55 members, including 20 women and 35 men from 20 different countries. The executive committee is listed on the WFN website.

During the 2021 WCN, the ADSG enjoyed the privilege of hosting two autonomic teaching courses, three main topic sessions with a total of 12 lectures, a 90-minute ANS session with oral presentations, and the presentation of 20 excellent autonomic posters with topics covering most autonomic fields. The ADSG wants to promote diagnostic procedures that can be applied in daily routine by any general neurologist. We also intend to support physicians who plan ANS research studies. We hope to be able to organize visits of junior researchers to leading autonomic centers where they can learn more sophisticated procedures.

The committee has 11 executive members listed on the WFN at wfneurology.org/about-us/wfn-specialty-groups. •

Photos Submitted from Attendees of the XXV World Congress of Neurology

WFN and WHO Update

Resolution WHA 73.10 for the Development of an Intersectoral Global Action Plan (IGAP) on Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders. 2022 – 2031.

By Kimberly Karlshoej on behalf of Alla Guekht, Wolfgang Grisold, Sam Wiebe, Helen Cross, Julie Hall, Martin Brodie, Mary Secco, Jo Wilmhurst, Michael Brainin, Claudia Trenkwalder, David Dodick, and Bill Carroll

Kimberly Karlshoej

It was a landmark event when on Nov. 12, 2020, the WHO Executive Board accepted the recommendation of the World Health Assembly (WHA) to adopt Resolution WHA73.10. This resolution called for the development of an Intersectoral Global Action Plan (IGAP) to tackle epilepsy and other neurological disorders through comprehensive actions to detect, prevent, care, treat, and rehabilitate people with epilepsy and other neurological disorders, as well as ensuring their social, economic, educational, and inclusion needs.

The WFN has long been involved with neurological activities with the WHO, which include a first edition of the Atlas: Country Resources for Neurological Disorders 2004, Neurological Disorders: Public Health Challenges 2006 and the second edition of the Atlas: Country Resources for Neurological Disorders 2017, to mention a few. The resolution to develop an IGAP is also momentous in that neurological disorders are overtly recognized by the WHO Member States in line with the Global Burden of Neurological Disorders (2018) finding of them being the leading cause of disability-adjusted-life-years and the second leading cause of death.

The resolution is in large part due to the efforts of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) supported strongly by the WFN who, with several member states led by the Russian Ministry of Health, convinced the WHA that epilepsy was a public health emergency. In the lead up to Resolution WHA 73.10, member states recognized the burden of epilepsy and the synergies with many neurological conditions, especially access to both services and support for such conditions was insufficient, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The vote to address the problem with the call for the IGAP was unanimous. The WFN has a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of the IGAP.

As the first step, the WHO published a discussion paper. The WFN as a “non-state actor” (NSA) in official relations with WHO presented its comments on the draft discussion paper in both virtual and web-based consultations. To do this, the WFN first joined with the ILAE, IBE, and the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) to formulate comments on epilepsy and other neurological disorders, both adult and children, to match the intent of the IGAP draft discussion paper.

Second, the WFN formed a separate group with members of the Global Neurology Alliance (GNA) to advocate a stronger voice for neurological conditions. This group was selected by WFN President William Carroll to reflect the conditions that contributed most to the Global Burden of Neurological Disorders. The group comprised immediate past presidents of the International Headache Society (IHS: David Dodick), World Stroke Organization (WSO: Michael Brainin) and the current President of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Society (MDS: Claudia Trenkwalder) together with Alla Guekht, Wolfgang Grisold, and Kimberly Karlshoej from the WFN. Alla Guekht was indispensable in these meetings through her knowledge of the WHO. The WFN contributions to the WHO discussion plan were made jointly with the ILAE, IBE, and ICNA and jointly with the WSO, MDS, and IHS.

As social, biological, and environmental determinants mediate all experience, including responses to stress, and impact on brain development and brain health from pre-conception to end-of-life, the WFN emphasized in its submission the need for countries to prioritize brain health in their policies. New strategies for both brain health promotion and disease prevention across the life course need to be implemented at national levels.

Addressing the costs of health care, and reducing the current treatments gaps, especially in low resource settings was also emphasized.

Finally, the WFN stressed the importance of addressing stigma, exclusion, and discrimination of people with neurological disorders in its submission.

These general comments as well as many specific ones on the discussion paper were submitted to the WHO April 10 and were published with the other submissions as consolidated comments by WHO. The WHO then developed the first draft of the Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders (IGAP) based on the input received. This document outlines the scope, vision, goal, and strategic objectives as well as specific actions for Member States, the WHO Secretaria, and international and national partners.

Further consultation on this draft document began during July 2021, and the WFN worked with the same two groups: first, the ILAE and ICNA, and second, the WSO, IHS, and MDS. Central to these submissions was to make the first draft more evenly balanced in its intent. Instead of recommending epilepsy as the entry point for all interventions in the implementation of IGAP, essentially a hierarchical approach, the WFN joint submissions recommended that implementation be undertaken with prioritisation determined by member states as either epilepsy with neurological disorder(s), neurological disorder(s) alone, or epilepsy alone depending on the member states needs and abilities. The WFN and its partners remained fully supportive of the need for a specific global action plan for epilepsy within IGAP. The outcomes of these consultations will serve as input for the WHO Secretariat to prepare a revised draft of IGAP that will be submitted for review at the 150th session of the Executive Board in May 2022. •

Kimberly Karlshoej is strategy and program director for the WFN.

World Congress of Neurology XXV: It’s Here

William Carroll, MD

The Rome World Congress of Neurology is upon us. As we all know, this is our first virtual WCN.

Although not in Rome, it is significantly Rome-flavored. Attendees will enter the World Congress of Neurology through the colosseum. From the opening e-Spectacular of the Opening Ceremony, it is full of surprises. The mandatory welcome from the presidents of WCN, WFN, and SIN (Italian Neurology Society) recorded in one virtual room formed from green room studios in Milan and Perth is as realistic as if it were done in the one studio. The Opening Ceremony winds up with the outstanding singing voice of Maestro Andrea Bocelli, which he gave pro bono.

Welcome words offered by WCN President Antonio Federico praised those responsible for this virtual production, cited ancient, medieval, and recent Italian and Roman contributors to medicine and neurology. He also communicated an interpretation of a letter of encouragement and hope from His Holiness, Pope Francis.

SIN President Gioacchino Tedeschi offered similar sentiments and acknowledged the enthusiastic support for the WCN from members of SIN. My contribution as WFN president was to thank the Scientific Program and Teaching Course Committees and chairs for their outstanding program to be displayed over the ensuing five days.

I also welcomed the ground-breaking WHA 73.10 Resolution that will see the World Health Organization develop a Global Action Plan for Neurological Disorders, including Epilepsy, which is scheduled for completion by May 2022.

More than 4,000 registrants will join the World Congress of Neurology and hear 10 plenary lectures. They will choose from 77 scientific sessions and 45 teaching courses covering almost every aspect of modern neurology and delivered by 270 faculty. In addition, there will be a total of 31 sessions of free communications and six regional symposia. These will be available on the World Congress of Neurology website for three months after the Congress. Twenty-six teams of four neurologists will contest the Tournament of the Minds virtually. This has required appreciable innovation and care with the selection and incorporation of the questions to be answered by the contestants.

WFN medals and awards will be presented. These include the WFN Medal for Contribution to Neurology (Awardee: Prof. Jerry Mendell), the WFN Medal for Service to International Neurology (Awardee: Prof. Vladimir Hachinski) and the Munsat Award for Contribution to Education in Neurology offered by the AAN and WFN (Awardee: Prof. Erich Schmutzhard).

Two new WFN awards will be made. The inaugural recipients of the WFN Meritorious Service Awards are Keith Newton, BA (Hons), and Prof. Donna Bergen.

A World Congress of Neurology is a biennial event, and as such is two years in the making. A large number of people, committees, and meetings, combined with a unified purposeful intent are required. For the WFN, and to some extent for its professional conference organizer, Kenes International, the effort required was greater than usual.

All of those associated with the planning and implementation of this virtual XXV WCN wish all those attending an enjoyable, memorable, and above all, rewarding XXV WCN. On behalf of the WFN, I thank them for the outstanding product of their efforts. •

William Carroll

President, World Federation of Neurology

Letter from the Editors

Steven L. Lewis, MD, Walter Struhal, MD

We would like to welcome all neurologists worldwide to the September/October 2021 issue of World Neurology. The issue begins with the President’s column, where WFN President Prof. Bill Carroll discusses the upcoming WCN, opening within days of the publication, and the important role of the WCN in the WFN.

Next, Kimberly Karlshoej, WFN strategy and program director, and on behalf of multiple contributors, updates us on the Intersectoral Global Action Plan (IGAP) on Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders of the WHO.

Prof. Wolfgang Grisold provides another informative report on the WFN Committees and Specialty Groups, with this issue’s report providing us with an update on the Constitution & Bylaws Committee and the Neurosonology Specialty Group. Prof. Gagandeep Singh and colleagues then discuss their recent publication of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, reporting on the trends of the burden of neurological diseases across the states of India from 1990 to 2019.

Dr. Imane Hajjaj, from Morocco, provides us with a report of her successful and informative (pre-COVID-19) visit to Istanbul, Turkey, as part of the WFN Department Visit program. In this issue’s History column, Prof. JMS Pearce discusses the development of the concept of the extrapyramidal system. Next, María Jimena Alemán, a medical student from Guatemala, reviews the book One by One by One, by Dr. Aaron Berkowitz, about the author’s experience providing much-needed neurologic care in Haiti.

Finally, Dr. David Steinberg provides a heartfelt obituary, reprinted with permission from the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, on the life of Dr. George K. York III, neurologist and historian of neurology.

Thank you for your interest in World Neurology, and we look forward to “seeing” so many of you at the WCN2021, starting Oct. 3! •

George Kenneth York III

David A. Steinberg

George Kenneth York III]

George K. York III, neurologist, historian of neurology, and health care executive, died in Fiddletown, California, June 14, 2021, at the age of 70 after a protracted series of medical adversities.

York was a skilled clinician, world-renowned historian, creative writer, and expert in finance and audit. He was a concerned and empathetic physician who saw his clinical role primarily as a patient advocate.

His accomplishments in his parallel life as an academic historian of neurology included chairmanships of the history sections of the American Academy of Neurology and World Federation of Neurology, twice winner of the AAN’s Lawrence McHenry Award, many invited international lectures, dozens of peer-reviewed publications, and memberships in the Royal Society of Medicine and Savile Club.

York’s area of academic focus was the life and work of the founder of scientific neurology, John Hughlings Jackson, for which he was the acknowledged world’s expert. His myriad academic accomplishments aside, York may have been most proud of his creative writing. His humorous commentary on health care issues and policies, called The Termite, was distributed every week for nearly 15 years to the Kaiser Medical Group.

He also was awarded the AAN’s creative writing prize. Additionally, York was blessed with a keen business acumen being a member of the AAN finance committee and chair of Kaiser’s finance and audit committee for many years.

York was born in Palo Alto on Sept. 7, 1950, while his father was a graduate student at Stanford University and grew up in Davis, California. He attended college for a year at the University of San Francisco and graduated from University of California, Riverside with a BS in chemistry.

While applying to medical schools, York did research in pulmonary physiology at the UC Davis Medical School and matriculated with the UC Davis Class of 1978. He did his internship in internal medicine at UCLA and completed his neurology residency at UC Davis.

After a research fellowship at UCSF, York opened a private practice in Placerville and Jackson in California’s Gold Country. After two years, he was recruited to head the neurology department at Kaiser Stockton, and for nearly the rest of his clinical career, he was chair of the department and elected representative for Stockton on the Kaiser Board of Directors.

His intelligence, knowledge, incisive humor, and devotion to his friends and family will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

York is survived by his wife Pamela and his siblings, Judi Williams, Peter York, Jennifer Linzey, and Melissa Chase. •

This In Memoriam is reprinted with permission from the Journal of Neurological Sciences, June 2021. David A. Steinberg, Fiddletown Institute.