Dear ANA Members,
As we near the half-way mark of 2024, there are wonderful milestones to recognize. The month of May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we give tribute to those from the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Community who have made significant contributions to science, neurology, and medicine.
We honor the memory of Dr. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi (1865-1887), the first woman from India to go abroad and obtain a degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Women’s Medical College Pennsylvania, and Dr. Tetsuzo Akutsu (1922-2007), who was awarded the first PhD in Japan in the area of extracorporeal circulation and made major contributions to the development of an implantable artificial heart while at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States. We also acknowledge the many ANA members who are currently making significant contributions to academic neurology and neuroscience.
We are just 117 days from ANA2024, the 149th Annual Meeting of the ANA. This year’s meeting offers something for everyone, and we encourage you to begin making plans to attend. Last week, ANA launched registration, and nearly 100 individuals have registered in the first week! Early bird rates are good through August 7, 2024. Along with registration, make sure to reserve a room in Orlando. Our room block rates are good through August 22, 2024, or until our block is full (whichever comes first).
I am so grateful for the leadership of Dr. Allison Willis, the Annual Meeting Programming (AMP) Committee Chair, and the AMP Committee for the intensive work and planning they are doing to prepare an outstanding meeting. Additional thanks go to Dr. Clifton Gooch who is chairing the Local Arrangements Subcommittee. That committee is helping us engage with local institutions and support organizations that will enhance ANA2024. With the help of the AMP Committee and Local Arrangements Subcommittee, we had a great response to our call for abstracts and an increase in nominations for the 2024 ANA Awards.
I am also grateful to Dr. Cassie Mitchell who, in addition to leading the ILW planning committee, will join me to co-chair the ANA2024 Presidential Symposium: Present and Future Applications of AI in Neurological Care and Research. Our exciting and eclectic Symposium speakers include Brian Litt, MD, PhD, Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, MBA, PhD, Ivan Soltesz, PhD, and Paul Thompson, PhD, capped by a panel discussion with attendees. Together, the session will present perspectives on current capabilities and future promise of computational tools for the application of implantable devices and the integration of multi-omics, imaging, and clinical data toward understanding the causes, prognosis, and treatment of neurological disease.
The ANA Annual meeting has something for everyone: medical students, residents, academic neurologists in their first faculty position, mid-level professionals and department chairs. It is the ideal conference for any clinician-scientist looking to learn about cutting-edge research and exchange ideas with thought leaders in academic neurology. This year’s meeting will also include the Academia-Industry Forum where we will discuss implementation strategies building on the Academia-Industry Workshop hosted last November. You can learn more about our efforts to connect academia and industry in a commentary featured in Annals of Neurology.
The ANA is going to pilot a new program, interACTN LIVE, a patient case webinar series. This new one-hour case-based, FREE live webinar series will feature authors from accepted interACTN case study submissions. During the first webinar, Dr. Shani Peter and Dr. Sadhana Murali will present the case of a 38-year-old man with transient right arm weakness and dysarthria. Register to join the webinar to hear the entire case presentation and test your diagnostic acumen.
All the programming and projects of the ANA are supported by many volunteers who serve on ANA committees. This opportunity allows you to help us advance our strategic goals and objectives, gain experience in volunteer service and leadership, and engage with the ANA. The Call for Committee Service will go out by email on Friday, May 31, 2024. I urge you to apply to serve on an ANA committee.
A brain-child of the Inclusion/Diversity/Equity/Anti-Racism/Social Justice (IDEAS) Committee, the ANA is launching a speaker directory. All ANA members received an invitation last week, and we already have more than 50 individuals responding to be listed. We invite you to be part of this directory as well. It will be a wonderful resource for departments planning their Grand Rounds and special events throughout the academic year. Many thanks to the IDEAS Committee for their work on this new member resource.
I hope you are taking advantage of all the ANA has to offer. Visit the ANA website, the ANA2024 site, and the ANA Member Center for updates, information, and resources. We are working hard to provide resources for our growing membership. The ANA currently has 2,342 members and continues to welcome new members almost daily. Thank you for being part of the ANA, and I look forward to seeing you in Orlando for ANA2024 in September.
Sincerely,
M. Elizabeth Ross, MD, PhD, FANA
President, ANA
Nathan Cummings Professor and
Head, Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Development
Director, Center for Neurogenetics
Weill Cornell Medicine