Plenary Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Prof James Barkovich
Chief, Pediatric Neuroradiology, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.
Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Pediatrics, and Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco.
PLENARY:
"New and exciting imaging techniques that help to diagnose and increase the understanding of congenital and acquired brain disorders."
This talk will cover some of Prof Barkovich's current research projects, including:
* Study of white matter development and maldevelopment in the developing brain
* Correlation of MR abnormalities with neurodevelopmental outcome in prematurely born neonates
* Early detection of brain injury in neonates with encephalopathy
* High resolution anatomic and functional imaging of brain malformations
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. A. James Barkovich is chief of Pediatric Neuroradiology at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, where he performs and interprets high resolution, state-of-the-art imaging to diagnose and treat neurological disorders in infants and children. In his research, he studies brain disorders including correlating genetic defects with brain imaging findings to facilitate diagnosis, early detection of brain injury in newborns with encephalopathy, and early detection and correlation with neurodevelopmental outcome of brain injury in premature newborns.
Dr.Barkovich earned a medical degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and completed a residency in radiology at Letterman Army Medical Center and a fellowship in neuroradiology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He served as chief of neuroradiology and special procedures at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco until 1989 when he joined UCSF. He is past president of the American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology and former secretary and president of the American Society of Neuroradiology. He has received many research awards and is the author of several textbooks, including Pediatric Neuroimaging, the definitive textbook of pediatric neuroradiology, which is now in its 5th edition.
Prof Samuel F Berkovic
Australia Fellow and Laureate Professor, University of Melbourne
PLENARY:
"Advances in the genetics of epilepsy"
Genetic factors play a role in essentially every patient with epilepsy, although these vary from crucial to clinically trivial. Enormous progress has recently occurred in the understanding of epilepsy genetics and, particularly in children, de novo mutations have recently been shown to be extremely important in epilepsies previously regarded as non-genetic. Examples will be given as to how discoveries beginning with clinical research in patient populations leads to molecular genetic insights with subsequent unravelling of pathophysiology that informs and improves clinical care.
BIOGRAPHY:
Sam Berkovic heads the Epilepsy Research Centre, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Austin Health. He is a clinical neurologist and clinical researcher closely linked to basic scientists. His group, together with molecular genetic collaborators in Adelaide and Germany, discovered the first gene for epilepsy and subsequently have been involved in the discovery of many of the known epilepsy genes. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007.
Prof Josep Dalmau
Dr. Dalmau is ICREA (Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies) Research Professor at IDIBAPS/Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona (Spain) and Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania (USA).
PLENARY:
"Autoimmune encephalitis"
Some encephalitides and seizure disorders previously thought to be idiopathic now appear to be immune mediated. The antigens are cell surface or synaptic proteins that have critical roles in neuronal transmission and plasticity, such as the NMDA, AMPA, and GABAB receptors. Other antigens, such as LGI1 and Caspr2 proteins, are responsible for fine tuning synaptic transmission and nerve excitability. These disorders are important because they can affect children and young adults, are severe and protracted, occur with or without tumor association, and respond to treatment but may relapse. Moreover, patients' antibodies alter the structure or function of the target receptor, with effects that resemble those of pharmacologic or genetic models in which the receptor is disrupted. The discovery of these disorders has had a substantial impact in Neurology and Neuroscience and the implications will be further discussed.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Josep Dalmau received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Autonoma University of Barcelona, Spain, where he completed a residency in Neurology. He trained in Neuro-oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and afterwards was appointed to the faculty. Subsequently, he worked at the Department of Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the Department of Neurology and Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, where he became Professor of Neurology. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, and he has received grants and awards from the Charles A. Dana Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the Catalan Telethon in rare diseases. His recent work has revealed a new category of disorders mediated by antibodies to neuronal cell surface and CNS synaptic proteins, for which he has received multiple awards, including among others the George W. Jacoby award of the American Neurological Association.
Prof Gabrielle A. deVeber
Director of the Children's Stroke program, and a Paediatric Neurologist in the Division of Neurology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada.
PLENARY:
"Pediatric stroke treatment: Balancing risks and benefits"
Prof deVeber will discuss the challenges in treatment of childhood stroke, including 'Does reperfusion help the brain?' and 'How late is too late' regarding timing of treatment. As part of the talk, she will discuss targeted approaches to stroke treatment, define stroke outcomes, and discuss the importance of urgent neuroprotective management.
She will further discuss the importance of International collaboration in answering some of these questions, and possible future developments in stroke therapeutics.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. deVeber is a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto and Senior Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences program at SickKids Research Institute.
Her research focuses on stroke in newborns and children, defining the frequency, causes, treatments and outcomes of paediatric stroke. She initiated and directs several large multi-centre collaborative studies including the Canadian Pediatric Ischemic Stroke Registry and International Pediatric Stroke Study (IPSS) (https://app3.ccb.sickkids.ca/cstrokestudy), a large international study of childhood stroke with over 2500 enrolled children at over 35 enrolling centers spanning 18 countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America. The central organization and database resides at SickKids.
In 2009, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Dr. deVeber as dual Principal Investigator with H. Fullerton in the USA to study childhood infection and stroke within the IPSS in a seven year study.
She was also awarded the Sidney Carter award in 2010 for exceptional contributions to pediatric neurology and the Geoffrey C. Robinson Award" (awarded every 2 years to research making major contributions to child health) in 2007.
Prof Donna Ferriero
University of California San Francisco, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
PLENARY:
"Timing Issues in Perinatal Brain Injury: Impact on Therapy"
Dr. Ferriero will discuss how the extent of neonatal brain injury is dependent on the age and severity of the insult which dictates vulnerability. She will outline how the injury response evolves over time, and how different therapies are needed during these different phases of injury to adequately protect and treat the brain. She will also discuss how plasticity and repair can be enhanced in this setting.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Ferriero is Co-Director of the Newborn Brain Research Institute at UCSF, which brings together physician and basic scientists to study the mechanisms of injury in the developing brain. Her own laboratory defined the role of oxidative stress during hypoxia-ischemia and the relationship of selectively vulnerable populations of neural cells during maturation-dependent injury. She is President-elect of the American University Professors of Neurology and President of the Child Neurology Society. She is a member of the Council for NINDS. She was the Bernard Sachs Lecturer for 2006 for the Child Neurology Annual Meeting. She is the recipient of the 2000 Sydney Carter Award in Child Neurology for excellence and leadership in Child Neurology, the Weinstein-Goldenson Award- United Cerebral Palsy for Excellence in Medical Research, the Royer Award for excellence in academic Neurology, and was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2005, and the Association of American Physicians in 2011.
Prof Ikuya Nonaka
Director General Emeritus, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan
PLENARY:
"Update on congenital myopathies"
Congenital myopathies are classified based on the characteristic muscle pathologic findings and include nemaline myopathy, congenital fiber type disproportion (CFTD), central core disease, centronuclear myopathy, and myotubular myopathy. Among these, the most common is nemaline myopathy, accounting for 24% of cases, followed by CFTD comprising 22%. In my talk, I will discuss clinical, pathologic and molecular biological aspects of congenital myopathies, especially the most representative disease of nemaline myopathy.
BIOGRAPHY:
After graduated Kumamoto University Medical School in 1964, I pursued pediatric neurology training in the Department of Pediatrics in the same university hospital for 8 years, during which I developed a profound interest in muscle pathology. After my clinical exposure, I went to the Department of Pathology, West Virginia University Medical School from 1973 to 1977 to further my major interest in muscle pathology. Since 1978, I have been involved in research works on molecular pathology in childhood muscle diseases, focusing on the pathomechanism of congenital myopathies and congenital muscular dystrophies in the National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP).
Hideyuki Okano
Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Japan
PLENARY:
Modelling the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative and neuro-developmental diseases using iPS cell thechnology
There is an increasing interest in the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) technology, which might be used to fill the gaps in modelling of pathophysiology of human neurological diseases by creating a novel approach known as "disease in a dish". Parkinson's disease (PD) involves degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra, followed by other degenerative changes throughout the brain. Some of the PDs are caused familiarly by genetic mutations, although more than 90% of PD cases are sporadic. However, the dysfunctions of mitochondria and abnormal alpha-synuclein accumulation as well as Lewy Body (LB) formation could be the common mechanisms of familial and sporadic PDs. Recently, we generated iPS cells from several PD patients and showed pathological changes in PD iPS cells-derived neurons in comparison with the postmortem brain of the same patient. In the present lecture, I also talk about the advantage of iPS cells-technology to study the pathophysiology of other neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer disease (Yagi et al., Human Molecular Genetics, 2011) and developmental disorders affecting central nervous system. These new models not only revealing the mechanistic insights of PD pathophysiology, but also help us to clarify novel targets of drug screening and modifying therapies of PDs. I also wish to talk about our recent results on iPS-based cell therapy for spinal cord injuries (Tsuji et al., PNAS, 2010, Nori et al., PNAS, 2011).
BIOGRAPHY:
Hideyuki received his M.D. in Physiology from Keio University in 1983, and served as a Research Associate in Keio University School of Medicine and in Osaka University Institute for Protein Research. After he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Keio University in 1988, he held a Post Doctoral position at Johns Hopkins University Medical School. He has appointed full Professors at Tsukuba University School of Medicine in 1994, Osaka University School of Medicine in 1997, and returned to Keio University Medical School in 2001 as a full Professor of Physiology. From 2008, he has been an honorary Professor in Queensland Brain Institute in Australia.
He has been conducting basic research in the field of restorative medicine using neural stem cells and iPS cells developmental genetics. Hideyuki is also deeply involved in translational research in the cell therapy for injured spinal cord using somatic neural stem cells and iPS cells. His aim is to establish and provide genetically modified non-human primate models for neurodegenerative and neuro-developmental disorders. Based on these achievements, he was awarded with prizes and honors including the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2009. Hideyuki is currently acting as a member of editorial boards of Stem Cells and Cell Stem Cell.
Pre-Congress Symposia
Click here to view the draft Pre-Congress Symposia Program
TOURETTE SYNDROME AND GENETIC MOVEMENT DISORDERS
This pre-congress symposium held on Sunday 27th May 2012 will cover aspects of Tourette syndrome and genetic movement disorders. The symposium will start with an update into clinical and neurobiological aspects of Tourette syndrome. Then new insights from neurophysiology and saccade examination will be presented, followed by an update on the treatment of Tourette syndrome.
After lunch, there will be a talk on the way movement disorders are defined and influenced by the developmental context of the child. There will be a talk on the use of copy number variant technologies in the investigation of children with suspected genetic movement disorders. In the final session, there will be an update on the genetics of dystonia, there will be a talk on the differential diagnosis of myoclonus dystonia and benign hereditary chorea, and finally there will be a talk on the genetics of Juvenile Parkinsonism.
METABOLIC DETERMINANTS OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES
This pre-congress symposium held on Sunday 27th May 2012 will cover the metabolic determinants of neurological diseases. The symposium will start with a talk on the prevalence and approach to mitochondrial disorders in Australia and South-East Asia. Then there will be a talk on fetal presentations of metabolic diseases. After tea, there will be a talk on the clinical evaluation and management of sick neonates presenting with metabolic encephalopathy. Then there will be a talk on the metabolic determinants of infantile epilepsy. After lunch, there will be a talk discussing the approach to metabolic myopathies and recurrent myoglobulinuria, followed by a talk describing the diagnostic approach to metabolic neuropathy. There will be an update on neurometabolic diseases detectable by newborn screening using electrospray ionization tandem MS-MS. In the final session, there will be talk describing metabolic aetiologies of psychiatric disease and autism. Then there will be a talk on palliative care issues in a neurometabolic clinic. Finally, there will be a talk describing the diagnostic clues to metabolic disease provided by eye examination.
ADVANCES IN RESEARCH AND THERAPY IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS AND RELATED CONDITIONS
This pre-congress symposium held on Sunday 27th May 2012 will cover advances in autism and related disorders. The symposium will start with an overview and definition of autistic spectrum disorders. Then there will be talks on cognitive function, and clumsiness in ASD. After morning tea, there will be talks dedicated to social deficit in ASD, and the neuroimaging of ASD. After lunch there will be an update into the genetics of ASD and the pathophysiology of ASD. In the final session, there will be a review of the management of ASD. Then there will be two talks dedicated to Rett syndrome. The first talk will provide an update into Rett syndrome research, and then there will be an update into the genetic aspects of Rett syndrome. The symposium will close after a panel discussion.
MALFORMATIONS OF CORTICAL DEVELOPMENT
This pre-congress symposium to be held on Sunday 27th May 2012 will present an update of the most common malformations of cortical development (MCD), with talks ranging from normal development of the human cortex, through to a practical approach for the interpretation of MRI and the laboratory workup. The talks will all be presented by international experts in the field. The symposium will start with two talks on normal brain development, focusing on development of the cortex and axon guidance. This will then be followed by an update on the current classification system for MCD. Talks will then follow covering the most common MCD; lissencephaly, grey matter heterotopia, polymicrogyria and cortical dysplasia. The final session of the day will include talks on emerging imaging techniques for the detection of subtle lesions and practical tips for patient management. We will conclude the symposium with a case-based presentation covering the workup of patients, highlighting the interpretation of magnetic resonance imaging and current genetic testing. The target audience for this symposium will be child neurologists, and it will also be of interest to researchers’ in the field of cortical development.
Breakfast Sessions
There are a number of stimulating breakfast symposia and teaching sessions running during the congress week, and new breakfast symposia have been added and more are to come! Watch for these new additions on congress newsletters. If you have already registered for the congress and wish to add a new breakfast session to your booking, please email the congress office to arrange this (icnc2012@icms.com.au).
Breakfast Symposia
TUESDAY BREAKFAST SYMPOSIUM:
Epilepsy: Dravet Syndrome Or EFMR, What Is The Difference?
This epilepsy breakfast symposium will discuss the clinical and genetic associations of infantile epilepsies due to SCN1A or PCDH19 mutations. The symposium will start with an update of the clinical spectrum of epilepsy associated with SCN1A mutations (Dravet syndrome or severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy). Then the clinical spectrum of epilepsy in females with mental retardation (EFMR) due to PCDH19 mutations will be described. Finally, a further experience of this clinical-genetic challenge will be presented and discussed.
WEDNESDAY BREAKFAST SYMPOSIUMS:
Cerebral Palsy: International Perspectives
This breakfast symposium will invite experts who manage CP in countries of limited resources and/or diverse cultural backgrounds to share their experience in the management of CP in India, Africa and the Middle East.
Canadian Cerebral Palsy: Demonstration Project
As a heterogeneous disorder in all its aspect, cerebral palsy defies a simplistic research approach that will further our understanding of its mechanisms, outcomes and treatments. The Cerebral Palsy Demonstration Project of the NeuroDevNet Networks of Centres of Excellence features a multi-dimensional approach utilizing epidemiologic, imaging, genetics, animal models and stem cell modalities that will at all times emphasize clinical relevance, translation into practice, and potential synergies between investigators now separated by both academic disciplines and geographic distance. This session will highlight the creation and efforts of this national platform of varied complimentary and inter-digitated efforts that can serve as a model for collaborative research in the 21st Century.
THURSDAY BREAKFAST SYMPOSIUM:
Cerebellar Disorders
The focus of this breakfast symposium will be on childhood ataxia and cerebellar disorders, with specific emphasis on cerebellar atrophy. Practical clinical information and diagnostic pearls will be discussed regarding evaluation of the ataxic child. The use of pattern-recognition on neuroimaging will be discussed, followed by an approach to genetic investigations in the diagnosis of cerebellar atrophy in childhood.
Breakfast Teaching Sessions
The breakfast teaching sessions are intended to discuss clinical signs or important clinical skills in child neurology. The sessions are designed for child neurologists in training, but all are welcome.
BREAKFAST TEACHING SESSION 1:
'Eye Movement Disorders' and 'Categorisation Of Movement Disorders'
Using cases and videos this session will discuss eye signs and movement disorder classification in child neurology.
BREAKFAST TEACHING SESSION 2:
'Non-Epileptic Events' and 'EEG Tips And Tricks'
Using cases and videos this session will discuss non-epileptic paroxysmal events in child neurology. In addition, the session will provide tips and tricks into EEG interpretation.
BREAKFAST TEACHING SESSION 3:
'Seizure Semiology And ILAE Classification'
Using cases and videos this session will discuss seizure semiology and ILAE classifications.
BREAKFAST TEACHING SESSION 4:
'Parasomnias And Sleep Disorders'
Using cases and videos this session will discuss parasomnias and sleep disorders in child neurology.
Congress Workshops
The Joint 12th ICNC and 11th AOCCN is pleased to announce that there will be a number of workshops running alongside the Main Congress Program. If you wish to arrange a workshop or seminar alongside the main congress program then please contact the Congress Organizers at icnc2012@icms.com.au
Workshops currently in development are:
Reflex Syncopes Workshop
Neurology of reflex syncopes
Syncopes are arguably the most common paroxysmal events throughout life and much more prevalent in infancy and early childhood than in adulthood.
Despite a huge literature, the neurological basis is not fully understood. This workshop originated from new observations on neonatal asystolic syncopes in paroxysmal extreme pain disorder (PEPD) in which SCN9A is mutated and Nav1.7 altered in sympathetic ganglia (and of course in dorsal root ganglia).
The aims of the workshop are to discuss the neurology of reflex syncopes with contributions from those who deal with adults as well as children, and those who come from various disciplines. The workshop will compose of a number of brief talks, followed by discussion. The workshop will be held on Tuesday 29th May, 14:00-18:00. The following speakers will present during this workshop (provisional program):
- Introduction and overview of reflex syncopes in newborns, infants and children, with video-demonstrations. John Stephenson, UK
- Breath-holding spells in children. Francis DiMario, USA
- Arrest of the cerebral circulation in adults. David Robertson, USA
- Why is the semiology of syncope so poorly recognized? John Stephenson, UK
- What is the future for implantable recorders? Satish Raj, USA
- Sudden sympathetic withdrawal in asystolic syncope. David Jardine, New Zealand
- Lack of sympathetic withdrawal in vasovagal syncope. Gautam Vaddadi, Australia
- Problems in evaluating the sympathetic nervous system. Vaughan Macefield, Australia; Phillip Low, USA; Elizabeth Lambert, Australia
- Genetic causes of orthostatic intolerance. David Robertson, USA
- Cardiac and respiratory syncopes in SCN9A-mutated PEPD. Colin Ferrie, UK
- More general lessons from the syncopes of PEPD? John Stephenson, UK and speaker panel
Peripheral Neuropathy Workshop
Peripheral neuropathy and neuronopathy: diagnostic approaches and pathophysiological insights
This workshop incorporates discussion around the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and mechanisms of disease pathogenesis for the peripheral neuropathies and neuronopathies. Understanding these aspects of this group of disorders is critical to arriving at the specific diagnosis. Development of novel treatment strategies will also be discussed for this group of neurological disorders. The workshop will compose of a number of 20-minute talks, followed by discussion. The workshop will be held on Wednesday 30th May, 14:00-17:00. The following speakers will present during this workshop (provisional program):
- Spinal muscular atrophy: Michelle Farrar, Australia
- Hereditary motor neuropathy: Steve Vucic, Australia
- Channelopathies: Prof Matthew Kiernan, Australia
- Biomarkers for treatment: Cindy Lin, Australia
Autoantibody Workshop
Autoantibody mediated CNS disorders
Brain and spinal cord disorders that are associated with auto-antibodies are an emerging group of important and treatable neurological conditions. This workshop will bring clinical researchers from around the world together to describe their research and key findings. The workshop will compose of a number of 20-minute talks, followed by discussion. The workshop will be held on Thursday 31st May from 14:00-17:00. The following speakers will present during this workshop:
- Autoantibody assays and pathogenic mechanisms: Prof Angela Vincent, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- NMDAR and VGKC encephalitis in children: Prof Angela Vincent, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- Autoimmune movement disorders: A/Prof Russell Dale, Westmead Children's Hospital, Australia
- Opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia syndrome
- Autoantibodies in epilepsy and limbic encephalitis: Prof Yukitoshi Takahashi, Japan
- Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein antibodies in CNS demyelination: Dr Fabienne Brilot, Sydney Medical School, Australia
- Rare and unusual putative autoimmune CNS disorders: Dr Rob Rust, Virginia, USA
Satellite Meetings
The Joint 12th ICNC and 11th AOCCN is pleased to announce that there will be a number of satellite meetings running across Australia aligned to the Joint Congress. If you wish to arrange a satellite meeting linked to the Joint Congress, please contact the Congress Organizers at icnc2012@icms.com.au
For a copy of the Satellite Meeting Guidelines click here
Satellite Meetings