May 2004

In this Issue:

1. 2004 SSA Annual Scientific Meeting
2. ASTN Workshop in Hobart
3. ASUN National Meeting
4. Membership Renewal
5. 6th World Congress on Brain Injury (2005)

2004 SSA Annual Scientific Meeting

The 2004 Stroke Society of Australasia Annual Scientific Meeting will be held in Hobart from October 13 to 15.

Keynote Speakers.    We are delighted to welcome two distinguished international speakers to the meeting. Professor Jim Grotta is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Stroke Program at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School. Professor Joanna Wardlaw is Professor of Neuroradiology and Honorary Consultant Neuroradiologist, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh.

Social Events.    A welcome cocktail reception will be held in the Federation Ballroom of the Hotel Grand Chancellor from 6-8pm Wednesday 13 October. The annual dinner will be held at Meadowbank Estate on Thursday 14 October from 7:30pm. This is an award winning restaurant, set amidst 10 hectares of vines and overlooks the rolling hills and waterways of the Coal River Valley.

New Investigator Award.    Two encouragement awards, the Peter Bladin Award sponsored by the Stroke Society of Australasia and the National Stroke Foundation Award, will be made to the most outstanding presentations by new investigators. Eligibility criteria for this award can be viewed here. Previous winners of the award are ineligible.

Important Dates:
Closing Date for Abstracts submission – 25 June 2004
Closing Date of early registration – 31 July 2004
Registration brochures will be mailed to members later this month. For further information email Louise Pitney of Conference Action at louise@conferenceaction.com.au

Australasian Stroke Trial Network (ASTN) Workshop in Hobart

This is a new ASTN initiative that may be helpful to Neurologists wanting to be successful in recruiting for research trials.

A wealth of experience will be shared in a condensed 90 minute session.

Topics discussed will be: hints on choosing a co-ordinator, your legal responsibilities, some of the most experienced & best co-ordinators will divulge their pearls of wisdom on initiation visits, ethics, recruitment, and staying sane through the process!

Would you dare to miss it?

Date: Thursday 14th October
Time: 13:35 to 15:05
Location: Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart (during the SSA annual scientific meeting)

Australasian Stroke Unit Network (ASUN) National Meeting

The Australasian Stroke Unit Network, a subcommittee of the SSA, had its first annual meeting on 27 and 28 March 2004. Fifty delegates attended from all Australian States and New Zealand to discuss issues of stroke unit rollout; representation and communication processes; and acute and post-acute guidelines development/revision and dissemination.

The ASUN executive is preparing proceedings of the meeting to be posted on the ASUN website which will be launched in approximately four weeks. Overall the cross fertilization and collegiality between clinicians in medicine, nursing and allied health was of great value and we now have the foundations for a strong and cohesive network of stroke clinicians nationally.

For further information and membership details contact the ASUN Secretary –Janice Clifford on (02) 4921-3484 or email Janice.Clifford@hunter.health.nsw.gov.au

Membership Renewal

In the past week all members (except honorary members) should have received a membership renewal notice for the 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005 period. If you have not received this it may be that we do not have your correct address details. If you have changed address in the past 12 months, please forward your new address details to the Secretary (Mandy Thrift) at thrift@unimelb.edu.au

6th World Congress on Brain Injury (5-8 May 2005, Melbourne)

The International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) is presenting the 6th World Congress on Brain Injury in Melbourne, 4-8 May 2005. This biennial meeting will address the latest developments in prevention, neurobiology of injury and recovery, acute management, rehabilitation and community support services and family issues in traumatic and non traumatic brain injury – and should be attended by everyone working towards reduction of brain injuries in the community and the effects of these catastrophic injuries on individuals and their families.

Abstracts are invited for oral, poster, workshop and symposia presentations. For submission information please visit the congress website at www.icms.com.au/braininjury The deadline for submission of abstracts is Wednesday 4 August 2004.

Congress Themes

• Injury Prevention
• Neurobiology of Injury and Recovery
• Emerging Therapies in Brain Injury Management
• Paediatric Brain Injury
• Mild Head Injury Syndromes and Management
• Brain Injury - Behaviour and Mental Health
• The Role of the Family and other Community Support Systems in Brain Injury Management
• Compensation and Litigation in Brain Injury Outcome

Who should attend?

• Neurosurgeons
• Rehabilitation Physicians
• Psychiatrists
• Neurologists
• Psychologists
• Physiotherapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Speech Pathologists
• Nurses
• Social Workers
• Teachers
• General Practitioners

The International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) is presenting this meeting with the support of the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Injury (ASSBI) and the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFRM).

For more information please visit the congress website at www.icms.com.au/braininjury or contact ICMS on 03 9682 0244.