63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology
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Pharm Med 2011; 25 (4): 245-250 1178-2595/11/0004-0245/$49.95/0
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63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology 6–17 April 2011; Honolulu, HI, USA Sue Pochon Adis, a Wolters Kluwer business, Auckland, New Zealand
The 63rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) was held in Honolulu, HI, USA from 6th to 17th April 2011. The AAN was established in 1948 and now has more than 23 000 members and 140 full-time staff. Approximately 10 000 people from 90 countries attended the meeting, data from some 2500 studies were presented and around 3000 posters exhibited. The AAN annual meeting combines educational, business and scientific elements, with data from a number of pivotal trials reported at the event each year. In 2011, some of the highlights of the scientific programme included the oral multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs: fingolimod, laquinimod, alemzumab, cladribine and BG-12. Data from experimental epilepsy drug perampenal were released and migraine specialists heard the latest on botulinum toxin A (onabotulinumtoxinA) and orally inhaled dihydroergotamine (DHE). In Parkinson’s disease (PD), data were presented for IPX066 and CERE-120. Some of the most interesting and relevant science, as selected by the Scientific Committee, were discussed in a series of plenary sessions that ran throughout the conference. It is a selection of these lectures that will be reviewed in this report, as well as interesting studies discussed at a dedicated Clinical Trials session. 1. Presidential Plenary Session The Presidential Plenary Session marked the official opening of the scientific programme of the 63rd AAN meeting. It was moderated by Dr Stefan Pulst, Chair of the Science Committee and the Scientific Programme Subcommittee, and the Presidential Lecture was given by Dr Robert Griggs, the outgoing President of the AAN. After asking the audience to stand and join him in a moments silence for the people of Japan, in the aftermath of the March earthquake and tsunami, Dr Griggs gave a talk on the progress being made in the treatment of
neurological disease. He started by defining the three conceptual areas of translational neuroscience: T1 – laboratory work translating to new understanding of disease mechanisms. T2 – basic research progressing to clinical trials (phases I to IV) and cost effectiveness studies. T3 – practice-based research, which includes changing patient behaviour. Dr Griggs then proceeded to give each of these three areas a report card, saying that for T1 we are ‘‘brilliant’’. For T2 we are ‘‘not quite as good’’. There are many new treatments but still tough questions remain. Finally, T3 represents alien territory for many neurologists and this must change. In comparison, many specialties are much more advanced and we must make progress towards optimizing and standardizing care. For each of the five subspecialties covered by Dr Griggs’ talk, a different thought leader gave their viewpoint of the current landscape. For Alzheimer’s disea
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