Autonomic Nervous System Section
The Autonomic Nervous System Section promotes the understanding and treatment of disorders of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
- Annual Meeting ANS Courses
- Neurologists Asked to Monitor
- Update Your Membership Contact Information
- Letter from the Chair
Submit Neuro-oncology Abstracts Now for 2011 AAN Annual Meeting
Online abstract submission for the Scientific Program at the 2011 AAN Annual Meeting in Hawaii is now open and the deadline to submit abstracts is October 25, 2010. Selected research abstracts will be presented in exciting scientific programs and showcased in high profile scientific sessions and popular poster sessions. Submit your neuro-oncology research now!
Neuro-oncology Integrated Neuroscience Session
In addition to the scientific sessions and poster sessions, abstracts are sought for the Integrated Neuroscience Session: Autoimmune and Paraneoplastic Encephalopathies.
New Nanosymposium
This year the AAN will offer for the first time a nanosymposium. The nanosymposium will consist of abstracts from multiple institutions on a similar topic. When abstracts are submitted, researchers can note that they would like their abstract to be linked to the abstracts of their collaborators. Talk to your collaborators and submit your abstracts for the nanosymposium.
AAN members and nonmembers alike can submit abstracts, and no sponsors are required. Submission is free for graduate students, post-doctoral candidates, and medical students; $25 for AAN members not in these categories; and $75 for nonmember first authors. Previously presented or published abstracts will be accepted with prior presentation disclosure.
Present your autonomic nervous system research at the world's largest gathering of neurologists and neuroscience professionals! Submit your abstracts today at www.aan.com/go/am11.
Be Recognized; Apply for AAN Awards
Be recognized for your work in neurology; apply for an AAN award. AAN scientific and nonscientific awards and fellowships acknowledge significant achievements in neurology, from clinical research to creative writing, recognizing the achievements of neurologists from their earliest studies through lifetime accomplishments. Awards may include financial rewards, special presentation opportunities, and/or transportation to the AAN Annual Meeting. Many awards offer the opportunity for recipients to present their research at a scientific session held during the Annual Meeting.
Find an award according to your education level or research interest. Applications for AAN scientific awards are due November 1, 2010. Deadlines for nonscientific awards vary, so be sure to check dates carefully.
Sign Up for Free Electronic FDA Patient Safety Alerts
The American Academy of Neurology and the Health Care Notification Network have teamed up to offer AAN members a free online service that delivers timely neurology-specific FDA-mandated patient safety drug alerts electronically. This new AAN member benefit is free to members who wish to receive it; however, it is necessary to sign up in order to participate in the program. Participants may also opt out at any time.
The HCNN is the only network that delivers FDA-required drug alerts for recalls and warnings to physicians and prescribers online. This new program is an excellent opportunity for you to quickly and conveniently stay current on specialty-specific FDA alerts in order to provide the safest and best possible care for your patients. And because these alerts are targeted by specialty, not all doctors get all alerts; therefore, you can expect to receive less than one alert per week, on average.
Don't be the last to know about prescription recalls and warnings—visit today to learn more and enroll in this free AAN member benefit!
Up to $10,000 Available for Education Research Grants
Proposals Due September 3, 2010
Two to four awards—ranging from $5,000 to $10,000—are available through the AAN's Education Research Grant program for projects that can help improve the neurologic education of AAN member residents and fellows, medical students, practicing neurologists, and non-neurologists. The application deadline is September 3, 2010.
The program was designed to strengthen the AAN's education programs for quality improvement and credentialing purposes and train neurologic educators to perform and publish education research as one component of career development for academic educators.
AAN Active and Associate members are encouraged to apply—and to persuade their colleagues to do the same. Those who have previously applied are also welcome to submit new proposals by simply re-submitting the prior proposal along with a brief description of how the new proposal is different.
Information guidelines and grant applications are available at www.aan.com/go/education/eduresearch. For more information, contact Nancy Poechmann at npoechmann@aan.com or (651) 695-2812.
AAN Communities
Connect with Colleagues and Education Resources
The newly designed AAN.com is an indispensable part of your member benefits and connects you with colleagues, your areas of interest, and more.
AAN.com's new look and functionality now features AAN Communities, which allows members to connect with colleagues and discuss important education-related issues and to access relevant Neurology® journal articles. Forums provide the AAN education community opportunities for discussion and networking.
Finding Information Is Easier Than Ever
Forget endless sifting through articles and links. A new green roll-down "preview pane" appears to give you a preview of what each area of the website provides. New "share" and "follow us" buttons allow visitors to send and stay current with topics and Academy news links. Visitors can also find their way around the site better using "bread crumb" links to track their progress.Visit AAN Communities to get started!
Autonomic Disorders/Neuroendocrinology/Pain and Palliative Care Highlights in the Field/Section Meetings
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
AAN Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Highlights in the Field: Room 717AB
Neuroendocrinology Section Meeting: Room 713AB see agenda. PDF
Pain and Palliative Care Section Meeting: Room 716AB
Annual Meeting ANS Courses
- Evaluation and Management of Autonomic Disorders
Tuesday, April 13, 2:15 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
Director: Thomas Chelimsky, MD, FAAN - Small Fiber Neuropathies: Somatic, Autonomic, or a Mixture of Both
Thursday, April, 15 6:45 a.m.–8:30 a.m.
Director: Kamal Chemali, MD
Search for Annual Meeting programs by topic.
Important: Update Your Membership Contact Information Today
Update your contact information today to be sure your address and other contact information is current. Don't miss out on important news and event information about your Academy, or your host of other AAN publications included with your membership that are designed to keep you up-to-date on the latest issues affecting you and your profession, your practice, and your patients, including the journal Neurology®,AANnews®, Neurology Now®, and more.
If you are a Junior member of the AAN who graduated in June 2009, you will need to update your contact information in order to continue receiving important AAN communications and other valuable member benefits during your transition to Active or Associate member status. If you are continuing to a fellowship, contact AAN Member Services to be sure your member status is updated and you continue to receive Junior member benefits, including discounts on the RITE exam, free subscription to Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology®, and more!
If you want to update your section participation, contact AAN Member Services. View a list of AAN subspecialty or special interest sections.
Get Involved with AAN Sections
The AAN offers many opportunities for members to get involved in Academy events and initiatives, from joining sections and work groups to writing and reviewing clinical practice guidelines. Events such as the Annual Meeting, regional conferences, and advocacy participation programs give members the chance to improve their skills, advance health care issues, and network with their peers.
Throughout this website, you will find contact information for AAN staff who can answer questions about their areas and help you get involved. If you would like to become a member of an AAN section, contact AAN Member Services at memberservices@aan.com or call (800) 879-1960 to indicate which sections you would like to join.
Neurologists Asked to Monitor Patients for Post-Vaccine Related GBS
At the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Neurology is asking its member neurologists and other health care professionals to report any potential post-vaccine related cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare nerve disorder that may be associated with the H1N1 vaccine currently in production.
The AAN will host a series of webinars specially designed for neurologists and other health care professionals. These multimedia presentations will feature important information on reporting GBS and related cases, general facts about the disorder, and more.
Learn more about to report to VAERS, the webinar, and other resources on H1N1 and GBS.
Important: Update Your Membership Contact Information Today
Update your contact information today to be sure your address and other contact information is current. Don't miss out on important news and event information about your Academy, or your host of other AAN publications included with your membership that are designed to keep you up-to-date on the latest issues affecting you and your profession, your practice, and your patients, including the journal Neurology®, AANnews®, Neurology Now®, and more.
If you are a Junior member of the AAN who graduated in June 2009, you will need to update your contact information in order to continue receiving important AAN communications and other valuable member benefits during your transition to Active or Associate member status. If you are continuing to a fellowship, contact AAN Member Services to be sure your member status is updated and you continue to receive Junior member benefits, including discounts on the RITE exam, free subscription to Continuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology®, and more!
If you want to update your section participation, contact AAN Member Services. View a list of AAN subspecialty or special interest sections.
Letter from the Chair
February 2009
The Autonomic Nervous System Section of the AAN is striving. In spring of 2009, the examiners' committee was gathered by the United Council of Neurological Subspecialties (UCNS) at the AAN headquarter in St. Paul, MN. After a few brainstorming meetings, they finalized the questions for the first subspecialty examination in our field. The first examination took place December 7–11, 2009. In addition to this successful step recognizing the growth and importance of our field, more and more autonomic laboratories are developing, fellowship programs are expanding, our research makes rapid progress and gains interest and awareness among many neurologists and colleagues in other fields of medicine. Our areas benefits from the development of new and readily available testing procedures such as the "QDIRT," the Quantitative Direct and Indirect Test of sudomotor function, developed by Christopher Gibbons and colleagues (Gibbons CH, Illigens BM, Centi J, Freeman R. QDIRT: Quantitative direct and indirect test of sudomotor function. Neurology 2008, 70:2299-304) and from more effective treatment options for disease entities that gain increasing interest, such as autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathies or POTS. We are no longer looked upon as exotic sub-specialists, chasing after academically interesting though clinically marginal issues. Instead, more and more colleagues are fascinated by our field and hospitals are considering the development of specialized autonomic laboratories.
These developments are certainly welcomed but also demand a word of caution. Computerized semi-autonomic assessment devices that claim to deliver straight forward diagnoses of autonomic dysfunction are trying to conquer the offices of colleagues interested in our field. We must avoid a development that is counter-productive and claims to simplify diagnostic procedures. Instead, the AAN must recognize the growing interest in our field and should provide ample opportunity for those among us who are prepared to teach others about the theory and complex clinical issues of the autonomic nervous system. We need more teaching courses and we need to reach out to other disciplines such as diabetologists, cardiologists, or pediatricians. We should prepare teaching courses suited for colleagues who are interested in our field but to not plan to purchase expensive testing equipment.
Simultaneously, we must spread our guidelines and should advertise our subspecialty widely, probably also among hospital administrators who still have a very limited understanding of our field. In cooperation with other societies such as the American Autonomic Society (AAS), the Autonomic Section within the European Federation of Neurological Societies, or the European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS) we should update our consensus statements and clinical guidelines. We should develop leaflets or flyers that provide condensed information about our field. So far, many hospital administrators not even know what tests we provide, what revenues autonomic testing may generate, which disciplines will benefit from cooperating with an autonomic laboratory and autonomic specialists to improve the quality of patients' care.
Perhaps, we should follow the example of other groups that attempt to gain more awareness. The AAN could provide a booth or at least space for posters and printed material that better describe our work and goals. Representatives of our subspecialty should be encouraged to attend conferences of other, large societies dealing with cardiology or diabetology, in order to "advertise" our work.
The current, vivid communication among members of our section, of the AAS and EFAS regarding an update of the consensus statement on orthostatic hypotension shows how our groups and activities are growing together more closely.
Interaction with other groups is evident at the various national and international autonomic conferences. The joint meeting of the International Society of Autonomic Neurosciences (ISAN) and the EFAS in Sydney from September 1–4, 2009, was well attended by many of our section members. As usual, the annual meeting of the AAS, AAS, held in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, from November 11–14, 2009, also was a scientifically most interesting event with participants who are members both of our autonomic section and the AAS. From May 12–15, 2010, EFAS will hold its 12th meeting in Giardini Naxos-Taormina, Sicily. Hopefully, many AAS members will be able to join EFAS during that conference.
To summarize, we owe very much to those who created the AAN Autonomic Nervous System Section and continuously worked on its behalf. Our section is on the forefront of clinical autonomic work. The European autonomic groups, the autonomic section within EFNS and the national autonomic societies as well as the umbrella society EFAS want to follow our example and plan to develop a curriculum, fellowship programs and a subspecialty examination.
There is still much work to be done to enhance the growth and support of our section and our work, but the future is definitely bright.
Max Josef Hilz, MD, PhD, FAAN
Chair
