Page 3 - NNS 2014 Program

Letter from the President
Letter from the President
Dear Fellow Neurotrauma Researchers:
On behalf of the National Neurotrauma Society (NNS), I warmly welcome you to join us for The 32nd Annual
Symposium of the National Neurotrauma Society, including the AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and
Critical Care, at the Marriott Marquis in downtown San Francisco, June 29-July 2, 2014. The theme of this
year’s conference is “From Bench to Bedside and Back”.
Sessions were selected by the Program Committee from many excellent topics proposed by the NNS
membership, and will focus on multi-disciplinary, basic, translational, and clinical approaches to acute and
chronic problems in neurotrauma. Novel topics to be addressed are the e!ects of repeated mild traumatic
brain injuries and sports concussions, particularly for the pediatric population, autonomic nervous system
challenges in both TBI and SCI, topical discussions of exciting recent data on stem cell transplantation in
pre-clinical models and in clinical trials after SCI, and novel observations on the role of the lymphatic
system in TBI. The Presidential Lecture will describe the ground-breaking work in human spinal cord injury
utilizing spinal cord stimulation in combination with treadmill training to induce recovery of voluntary
function after chronic, neurologically complete spinal cord injury. This work was chosen to highlight the
important role of rehabilitation and allied health professionals in recovery from CNS injury, and the clinical
application of basic science understandings to promote strategies for recovery from neurotrauma. These
data will surely generate new ideas to be brought back to the lab for testing, before being brought back
again for clinical evaluation. Neurotrauma survivor testimonials and an airing of “The Crash Reel”, the
documentary of Kevin Pearce’s recovery after a snow boarding accident in preparation for the Olympics, will
round out the program.
The meeting location in San Francisco provides a beautiful venue with a variety of great restaurants nearby,
and we invite you to join us on a bay cruise on Tuesday evening to better view the city, the natural vistas
and the remarkable bridges at sunset. Since we are meeting in June, the weather can be quite cool if you
are close to the bay (think early-mid spring, especially if there is fog), but will be much warmer inland (think
hot, dry summer). We hope you will enjoy being here!
No other conference combines basic science, preclinical modeling and clinical approaches to studying
brain and spinal cord injury to the extent that is done in this meeting. We look forward to an exciting and
productive few days.
On behalf of the members of the Program Committee, along with the o"cers, councilors and members of
the National Neurotrauma Society, we welcome you to San Francisco, and hope that you have an enjoyable
and educational meeting!
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Bresnahan, PhD
2014 President, National Neurotrauma Society
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