November 2021

Dear ANA members:

As we head into the holiday season, there is much to celebrate and acknowledge about the successes of the ANA this year, and much to anticipate in the year ahead.

A Successful ANA2021

While we wish we could have all been there together, this year’s virtual annual meeting was the next best thing, and a success worth celebrating. We were delighted to see healthy attendance at the career development sessions, conjoined symposium, and mentoring event, and, of course, the high attendance at the different symposia, including the special presidential symposium on COVID-19 and the session “Hypoxic/Anoxic Injury in the CNS” by Nobel Laureate Gregg Semenza, MD, PhD. In total, we welcomed more than 1,000 academic neurologists and neuroscientists from 44 countries to ANA2021!

This year’s virtual event effectively covered newly emerging areas in the field of academic neurology and neuroscience featured experts spanning the spectrum of subspecialties, with 62 sessions and more than 500 abstracts and posters presented addressing epilepsy, ALS, and more, as well as late-breaking data and work from early-career investigators. It was truly an event that highlighted the latest developments in academic neurology and the best the ANA has to offer.

In addition, recordings from the meeting are now available, ensuring that the content from the meeting reaches even more researchers and academic neurologists and continues to drive our field forward.

Looking Ahead to 2022

Just as we look back on the annual meeting with pride, we’re looking ahead in preparation and anticipation. A new year calls for pausing to evaluate your path and strategy. The ANA leadership and I are working to review the mission of the ANA to increase our relevance to trainees and members of academic neurology. Our goal is to ensure that the association continues to provide the leading-edge research and content, as well as the unmatched networking and career opportunities, as only the ANA can do, in a way that meets the needs of our current and future members. I look forward to sharing the updates.

Next year, we’ll be in Chicago for ANA2022, in person at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, October 22-25! The Translational and Clinical Research Course (TCRC) and invitation-only ANA-NINDS Career Development Symposium will both be held prior to ANA2022 on October 21-22.

The ANA2022 program promises to deliver on social and networking opportunities, with a Junior and Early Career Reception, New Member Meet and Greet, and a Trainee Breakfast with the ANA Board of Directors. And of course, there will be the President’s Reception, to which I warmly invite all of you attend. We’re currently working though the submissions for the 2022 annual meeting and encourage you to stay updated at myana.org for additional announcements and updates.

 

Regards,

 

Frances E. Jensen, MD, FANA, FACP
President, American Neurological Association

Arthur Knight Asbury, MD Professor of Neurology

Chair of the Department of Neurology

Co-Director Penn Medicine Translational Neuroscience Center

Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania