General Assembly in memorium
Each year IFCN is obliged to have a General Assembly to relate its activities over the year to member societies. It is a relatively formal affair, with ExCo members giving short summaries. We also remember members of the IFCN who died during the year. This year we lost two much respected peripheral neurophysiologists and neurologists, Austin Sumner and Peter Dyck. Then, just before the GA, the death of Professor Mark Hallett was announced. He will have been known to many readers and had an extraordinary record of publication and of service to neuroscience. We are fortunate he did so much for IFCN including being Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Neurophysiology and our President. His obituaries can be seen in that journal, on our website and in other journals too. We will not see his like again.
Mark Hallett
I would also like to mention the recent and unexpected death of Jeremy Bland, a colleague I knew for many years, who many will know from his remarkable work on carpal tunnel syndrome and for neuromuscular imaging. He was recipient of a Distinguished Researcher Award by the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine in 2021.
General Assembly business meeting
In my short talk at the GA, I mentioned IFCN’s activities in its chapters, six committees, eight special interest groups and our Young Neurophysiologists’ Network, scholarships for Education and Research, Global Outreach initiative, Journals and congresses. I also mentioned that in the spring ExCo met to consider our strategy and priorities for the next year or so. Our interests were grouped together as education, research, special interest groups, congresses, our journals, with governance and finance supporting them.
Our Treasurer Aatif Husain was able to assure members that our finances remained in good health, both because of good returns from our investments and prudent management. Similarly, our Editors-in-Chief were optimistic about our two journals. Their Impact Factors may have dipped lightly of late, but this is part of a wider trend. Reports on education and research focused on fellowship winners who came from a wide range of countries, with many from low and middle income countries. Our masterclasses, of which there are six per year, continued to be successful with an encouraging number of new attendees to each.
Readers will know that the IFCN is a federation whose members are its societies. The GA voted to admit two new members, the Belgian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology and the Association of Clinical Neurophysiologists and Medical Geneticists of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Many congratulations to those societies. In addition, individuals from member societies can also sign up for full access to IFCN web based material on line. If you are a member of these two societies and interested in this then please contact the IFCN Secretariat at info@ifcn.info.
Global Outreach program
It is very gratifying to hear of workshops taking place under our Global Outreach Initiative and Visiting Professor Programs. This year there have been successful meetings in May in Tripoli, Libya, in July in Lima Peru. More recently there were meetings on EMG and NCs at the University of Namibia in November for 25 delegates 27th – 29th November and in Dhaka, Bangladesh with the the Society of Clinical Neurophysiology of Bangladesh (SCNB) in collaboration with IFCN on the 8th -9th November 2025. The Dhaka workshop trainers included local experts from SCNB, Mahbub Alam, Hasan Zahidur Rahman and Rajib Nayan Chowdhury as well as trainers from IFCN, Rajiv Wijesinghe (Australia) and Nortina Shahrizaila (Malaysia).
Global Outreach in Namibia. Attendees and faculty, Imen Kacem, Melody Asukile, Kate McMullen, Jo Wilmshurst.
Global Outreach in Dhaka, Bangladesh; faculty, industry and delegates.
Be Alert
In all this mention of activity, I should also caution people against ‘over-activity’ which we are made aware of not infrequently. It is not rare for me or our management to be made aware of scams sent to individuals in IFCN asking for urgent help and a money transfer to me as President or other Officers. There is little we can do about this except remain vigilant and to underline that we would never send such a request. The emails often have tell-tale errors too, but may prey on people’s good intentions so please bear this in mind.
YNN Chat with the Experts
IFCN is pleased to announce a new YNN ‘Chat with the Experts’ event on Thursday, 18 December at 10:00 AM (Eastern Time). The focus will be Neuromuscular/ EMG and our experts will be Dr. Kathie Lin of Stanford University and Dr. Devon Rubin of Mayo Clinic. YNN members are encouraged to register here IFCN- YNN Chat with the Experts
Spanish interlude
In late October I was invited to Grenada for a meeting of the Spanish Society of Clinical Neurophysiology and the Spanish Society of Neurological Electrodiagnosis (SELECNE), to talk a little on artificial intelligence and future developments in peripheral neurophysiology. But I suspect I was asked principally to take part in a discussion about technician training. In Spain this does not exist formally, and the Society had assembled a working group to explore how to do this and had asked advice from colleagues in Portugal, Italy as well as the UK.
The UK has a well-developed organization of Health Care Scientists, which is rightly independent of medical colleagues and the British Society for Clinical Neurophysiology. However, setting up a profession where it does not exist may need clinicians’ support. Recently our co-chair of the Education Committee, Lynn Liu, together with colleague Clio Rubinos has launched a poll to try to understand how technician education and practice are conducted around the world. Any society or person who would like, please fill it in. SURVEY
The Spanish meeting was packed, vibrant and of an excellent standard. The Gala Dinner was not in the middle of the congress as usual but at its end, so people had to stay another night to attend. That did not seem to matter; the elegant restaurant, set in the woods below the Alhambra, was full to bursting, with the upstairs dining room echoing to members’ chatting. At the end of the meal, beyond midnight in the Spanish way, everyone trooped downstairs to dance the night away.
Spanish Gala; a young neurophysiologist (and neurosurgeon?), and our table for dinner.
Asia-Oceania Chapter Congress
In November the executive committee attended the 8th AOCCN in Taipei, Taiwan. It was a pleasure to meet so many new colleagues, especially the Taiwanese organisers who had evidently worked so hard to make the congress such a success. Many areas of clinical neurophysiology were covered with enthusiasm and great expertise. My main recollections are of the discussions about artificial intelligence and the use of MR guided transcranial high frequency ultrasound for the treatment of Parkinson’s, and other conditions.
Any congress allows us to work together but also relax in each other’s company. This being Asia the evening dinners were enhanced by liberal amounts of karaoke, with the local committee of experts, led by the Sinatra-like Professor Jeffrey Chen, completely outclassing those members of ExCo and others from afar whose enthusiasm and bravery far outpaced their singing ability. Our thanks to Professor Chen and his committee for assembling a great meeting academically and socially, and congratulations to him on becoming new President of the AO Chapter.
Readers if you ever feel fatigued by life or, heaven forgive, tired of neurophysiology I recommend going to a meeting. If anything like the Spanish or Asia/Oceania Congress, members’ enthusiasm for our subject and sheer joy will soon refresh your soul.
Another year is nearing its end. I hope many of you are saving the date for next year’s ICCN in Cartagena, September 8th-12th. There was an excellent number of symposium proposals which the scientific committee has been working very hard to include guaranteeing a first rate programme both of symposia but also teaching courses. Please be aware that ICCN Abstracts are open for submission and that Registration opens December 15, 2025 ICCN 2026 . For those in the northern hemisphere enduring winter’s long nights and cold days, think of Cartagena where it will be hot, sunny and lively.
With my best wishes and those of ExCo to you all at this holiday season,
Jonathan Cole
