History Section
The History Section furthers research and teaching in, and increases the knowledge of, the history of neurology and the neurological sciences.
2011 Annual Meeting Abstract Submission Now Open
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.
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 research at the world's largest gathering of neurologists and neuroscience professionals! Submit your abstracts today at www.aan.com/go/am11.
Apply Now for History of Neurology Award
Apply now or nominate one of your colleagues to apply for the Lawrence C. McHenry: An Award for the History of Neurology. The Lawrence C. McHenry: An Award for the History of Neurology recognizes excellence in research in the history of neurology. Submission evaluation is based primarily on the originality of the work and the clarity with which ideas are expressed. The recipient will be recognized at the 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 9 through 16, 2011.
To be eligible, you must submit a manuscript to the Neurology® journal for review that follows publication criteria.
Complete your application now in time for the November 1, 2010, deadline.
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 in Your Area of Interest
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 topics and subspecialty interests important to them and to access relevant Neurology® journal articles. Forums provide each 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!
Section Executive Committee Open Positions
There are two open positions on the Executive Committee. These two positions are Councilor positions currently held by Christopher J. Boes, MD and Genevieve Aubert, MD. Watch for an online voting invitation that should come sometime mid-March.
Letter from the Chair
Fellow Members of the History of Neurology Section,
The History of Neurology Section activities at last month's AAN meeting have been quite successful. The course "History of Neurology: Landmark Case Studies of Neurological Giants" was well attended, the number of abstracts was encouraging (> 30), and we were able to put together a nice scientific platform session. We congratulate Elan Louis as Lawrence C. McHenry Award winner with an original historical study: "The Coming of Age of Neurology: The Conceptualization and Organization of the First International Neurological Congress (1931)". The paper will soon be published in a respectable journal. Other important papers at this session were Douglas Lanska's "Unethical Person-to-Person Transmission Experiments in Subjects with Neurological Vitamin Deficiency" and Chris Goetz's "Shaking Up the Salpêtrière: Jean-Martin Charcot and Mercury Intoxications". We look forward to seeing these papers published. Next to the papers chosen for the platform session many were selected for the poster session. It was good to see that there were several young contributors and attendants.
At the General Section meeting several important topics were discussed including the fact that the H. Richard Tyler Award has not been awarded this year. This is probably related to the fact that we have not advertised the award as we did in the past (in several journals, but with considerable costs). The Archives Workgroup will make plans to improve the spread, e.g. by trying to publish announcements free of charge in journals and Academy media. And for those reading this letter and need more information on the Tyler Award:
This award encourages historical research using the AAN Rare Books Collection at the Bernard Becker Medical Library at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. The H. Richard Tyler Award is named in recognition of the neurologist's generous donation to the collection.
This year the new Executive Committee members were chosen by electronic ballot. Although there are pros and cons, the number of voters this year was higher than with elections during the General Section meetings in the past. We congratulate Dr. Christopher J. Boes, who has been re-elected for a second term and Dr. Frank Freemon whom we welcome in the Committee.
The Oral History Work Group that was established last year has worked out plans to interview neurologists starting next year, provided that we succeed in passing the budget. The plans were discussed with a professional in oral history, Barbara Sommers, during a Conference Call last March and we were glad to hear that she is willing to help us carry out the project, bringing in her expertise in the field. (She is author of the Oral History Manual).
With respect to the History of Neurology Section website we are trying to make it more attractive by publishing the so-called 'NeurHistAlert' column from the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences and its organization (International Society for the History of the Neurosciences). Bibliographic information with short comments of papers on neurohistory from the past six years will than be available.
Furthermore, the Archival Neurologic Films Course was discussed. It has been successful for the past few years and according to the AAN rules, its director, Christopher Boes needs to be replaced. Douglas Lanska will take over the direction of the course.
Finally, we discussed how the History of Neurology may be brought to the attention of colleagues. Douglas Lanska has made arrangements with Neurology Today for publishing essays and this will be an excellent opportunity to show what we do.
Meanwhile, the preparations for the 2011 course have already begun. Chair-elect and program director Heidi Roth is putting together an interesting program entitled 'History of Neurology: Legacy and Training Style of Major Schools of Neurology'. The following program description has been submitted.
The major schools of neurology of the late 1800 and early 1900's—Queen Square and the British school of Neurology, Charcot and the French School of Neurology, Wernicke and Meynert and early Germanic and Austrian Neurology, Kozhevnikov and the Moscow School of Neurology, as well as Denny-Brown and Boston City Neurology in the US—left a stamp on the way neurology has been practiced for generations. These different schools represented different styles of neurology and were influenced by different frameworks of scientific thinking. Through the practitioners and scientists they trained, these schools had a far reaching influence on the study of neurological disease throughout the world. The styles of neurology and theoretical frameworks associated with these schools continue to influence both the practice of neurology and how we ask questions about neurological disease. This course will explore why these schools had such an impact, the specific teachers and styles of neurological evaluation practiced at these schools, how trainees were supported and mentored, and the legacy that the trainees left in relation to the style of thinking they were taught while in training. The course will also provide a window into places in which more time could be taken for patient evaluation, in which neurologists were often knowledgeable about vast areas of neurology, and in which some of the lasting distinctions between aspects of neurological disease were made.
Several speakers including Christopher Goetz (on the Paris school at the Salpêtrière) and Alla Vein (on the Moscow school) have already confirmed to participate in the faculty. We trust it will again be an interesting course that will find a place on the 2011 AAN educational program.
If you have any suggestions with respect to the history of neurology section, please let me know by e-mail (pkoehler@neurohistory.nl) and we will discuss it at next year's business meeting.
Peter J. Koehler MD, PhD, FAAN
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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.
History of Neurology Section Listserv
The History of Neurology Section has a listserv that allows for discussions of issues relevant to our section. To post a question, send an email to hist@lists.aan.com from your email application. All members must follow the AAN listserv rules and etiquette when posting comments. Subscribed members can view and search archived comments via the listserv web interface. If you need your login id or password—or if you have any other questions or administrative requests—contact Susan Corcoran, AAN History of Neurology Section Staff Liaison, at scorcoran@aan.com.
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