ANZSCoS 2008 Conference
Every six years the annual scientific meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Spinal Cord Society (ANZSCoS) meeting is held in New Zealand. November 26th-28th the conference will be hosted by the Burwood Spinal Unit on behalf of the ANZSCoS in the beautiful garden city of Christchurch, the centre of the South Island, New Zealand.
The conference theme "Where To From Here? - Asking the Questions" will express the multi-facets of our care for spinal cord injuries. It will cover comprehensively the prevention, clinical management, rehabilitation and psychosocial aspects of their specialty. The programme is to provide a platform for their multidisciplinary team together with their patients and relatives to present their experiences, their research results and to discuss the future prospects for the care and healing of spinal cord injuries.
The meeting offers the opportunity to participate in academic exchange, to enhance networking, to enhance your professional development and to help further advance your science or art in the service of spinal injuries.
The CatWalk Trust is sponsoring key note speaker Dr Michael Fehlings who will be presenting at the Conference on Thursday 27th November.
Dr Fehlings is the Medical Director of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre and heads the Spinal Programme at the Toronto Western Hospital. Dr Fehlings is also a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. He holds the Krembil Chair in Neural Repair and Regeneration, is a Senior Scientist in the Division of Genetics and Development at the Toronto Western Research Institute, a Scientist at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and a McLaughlin Scholar in Molecular Medicine.
Dr Fehlings combines an active clinical practice in complex spinal surgery with a translationally oriented research programme focussed on discovering novel treatments for spinal cord injury. This is reflected by the publication of over 500 articles chiefly in the area of spinal cord injury and complex spinal surgery. Dr Fehlings leads a multi-disciplinary team of researchers funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Emerging Team grant which is examining the application of stem cell, nanotechnology and tissue engineering for spinal cord repari and regeneration. Dr Fehlings is the Scientific Director and Acute Care and Treatment Practice Network Lead of the pan-Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Translational Research Network formed in collaboration with the Rick Hansen Foundation. He is also a principal investigator in the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation North American Clinical Trials Network and is co-chair of the internationally renowned Spine Trauma Study Group.
Dr Fehlings is active in many medical societies and journal editorial boards including Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurotrauma and Spine where he holds the position of Deputy Editor. His commitment to patients with neurotrauma is further reflected in his volunteer work for ThinkFirst, a charitable organisation which is focused on preventing brain and spinal cord injuries in children.
The Organising and Sceintific Committees have put together a full, enjoyable and informative programme and we encourage you to register an interest NOW in going to the 2008 Conference.
Check out the official Conference website for more details www.anzscos2008.org.nz
