News

Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC), Queen's University (Ontario) and Duke University publishing in Frontiers in Neurology describe a new tool that can screen children for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) quickly and affordably, making it accessible to more children in remote locations worldwide. The tool uses a camera and computer vision to record patterns in children's eye movements as they watch multiple one-minute videos, or look towards/away from a target, and then identifies patterns that contrast to recorded eye movements by other children who watched the same videos or targets. The eye movements...

It is with the deepest sorrow that I announce our much loved ICNA Executive Board member and highly esteemed friend and colleague, Dr. Linda De Meirleir, passed away Oct. 31, 2018, after a long and courageous battle with illness. She was born in Antwerp, Belgium, March 13th, 1954 and was happily married to Jacques, with two children, Laura and Ben. Dr. De Meirleir obtained her medical degree at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in 1979. She became a specialist in Neuropsychiatry in 1984 and Paediatric Neurology in 1997. From 1984 – 1985 she was...

ICNA Executive Board 2018-2022 Jo Wilmshurst President Unversity of Cape Town & Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town South Africa Pratibha Singhi Secretary Medanta The Mediciti Gurgaon India ...

Professor Hermann Doose, whose name is entwined with Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy otherwise known as “Doose Syndrome” passed away on April 23rd, 2018 following a brief illness. He was 90yrs old. Professor Doose was a founding member of the neuropediatric society in Germany.Hermann Doose was born on September 1927 in Lübeck, North Germany. His father was a surgeon and mother a gynaecologist. At the age of 16 he was recruited to the army during the last year of the war. A subsequent injury and admission to hospital resulted in him being the lone survivor of the group. ...

In a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine the researchers, comparing two doses of Cannabidiol (CBD) to a placebo, reported a 41.9 percent reduction in "drop seizures" in patients taking a 20 mg/kg/d Cannabidiol (CBD) regimen, a 37.2 percent reduction in those on a 10 mg/kg/d Cannabidiol (CBD) regimen, and a 17.2 percent reduction in a group given a placebo. The phase III trial was led by principal investigator and study first co-author Orrin Devinsky, MD, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine and director of NYU Langone's...

The congress offers a comprehensive discipline by way of the various types of sessions and diverse range of topics. The education and scientific program of the congress will highlight state-of-the-art clinical practice, recent advances, uptodate research and workshops on key topics for the practising neurologist.  Read More

Voting for the ICNA Secretary and Treasurer positions and to the Executive Board was held from 03 April 2018 to 03 May 2018 2400 GMT. All eligible ICNA members were provided with a security code following validation of which, they were able to cast their votes on an online ballot. All active members of the ICNA were eligible to vote in this election. Associate and Junior(trainee) members were not eligible to vote according to the ICNA constitution and bye laws. Members were requested to cast their votes for the following positions in the International Child Neurology Association: Secretary (Select one candidate) Treasurer (Select...

Natalio Fejerman, leading Argentine child neurologist and epileptologist, died on Thursday, March 29, after a short sickbed. He was 84 years old.  Natalio Fejerman was born in Buenos Aires on November 8th, 1933. He earned his medical degree from Medical School in Buenos Aires in 1957 and started his professional training at the Children's Hospital Ricardo Gutierrez in Buenos Aires and later at Boston Children's Hospital under...

In a study published in Current Biology today, researchers from King's College London uncovers the precise mechanisms by which autophagy leads to cell death. The study used a mouse model for the polyglutamine disease dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA), progressive acquirement of an ataxic phenotype linked to severe cerebellar cellular pathology, characterized by nuclear degeneration through nucleophagy-based LaminB1 degradation and excretion.  DRPLA is caused by the expansion of a CAG stretch in the ATROPHIN-1 (ATN1) gene. Patients display ataxic and choreoathetoid symptoms as well as myoclonus, generalized epilepsy, and dementia with extensive cellular degeneration found in the basal ganglia (e.g., the globus pallidus,...

 In a study published in The FASEB Journal a team of NIH-funded scientists reports on a potential drug that could be protective in ischemic stroke patients.  The clue for the study came from observations in hibernating ground squirrels. In these animals there is a dramatic reduction of cerebral blood flow during hibernation, yet they emerge from their sleep without any ill effects at all.  The researchers observed that a cellular process called SUMOylation goes into overdrive in a certain species of ground squirrel during hibernation. They suspected this might be the mechanism by which the animals' brains...