Business Meeting Minutes

Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD

AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery
2006 Winter Meeting
Denver Marriot Ballroom, Denver, Colo.
Nov. 30, 2006

Call to Order—5:00 p.m. by Rick Abbott, MD, section chair

Approval of Minutes from Spring 2006 meeting—Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD, secretary
Moved for approval and accepted by acclamation.

Financial Report—Alan Cohen, MD, treasurer
The Pediatric Section remains in very favorable financial position. Total assets as of November 2006 exceed $573,000, which represents an increase from last year. Some of these monies will be transferred to long-term accounts. The Executive Committee has designated some of these assets to support various educational projects, as will be outlined below.

Membership Committee—Rick Abbott, MD, for John Kestle, MD
New members proposed for election at the business meeting include:
Drs. Ethan A. Benardete, Robin M. Bowman, Gerald A. Grant, Naina Gross, Abhava V. Kulkarni, Jeffrey Leonard, Jonathan E. Martin, Renatta J. Osterdock, Gary Tye, Elizabeth C. Tyler-Kabara, and John C. Wellons. All were approved by the Executive Committee. They were brought to the vote of the membership and approved.

Rules and Regulations Committee—Michael Vassilyadi, MD
A change in the bylaws allowing both Active and Active Foreign members to vote in Pediatric Section affairs was brought to a vote by the membership and approved.

Annual Meetings—Michael Handler, MD
Dr. Handler reported that this annual meeting in Denver appears financially successful; 130 abstracts were submitted; there were about 76 oral presentations and 30 posters. The spine course was sold out, and the coding course had nine attendees. Dr. Abbott reported on the 2007 meeting in Miami, which will be held at South Beach and preceded by an epilepsy course. Dr. Gruber discussed the 2008 meeting in Spokane, which will be held in a five-star historic hotel built in 1914. The 2009 meeting will be in Boston. Several sites have volunteered to host the 2010 meeting; the site will be chosen in the upcoming year.

Traveling Fellowships—R. Michael Scott, MD
Dr. Scott reported that four fellowships were recommended, one domestic (Deanna Sasaki-Adams, MD, from North Carolina to spend a month at Toronto Sick Kids’ Hospital) and three international (two candidates from India, K.M. Bopanna, MD, and G. Samson Sujit Kumar, MD, and one from Turkey, Alp Ozgun Borcek, MD, all of whom have requested time in Toronto). The Executive Committee voted to approve all four candidates, for a total cost of $17,500.

Nominating Committee
Rick Abbott, MD, and Andrew Parent, MD, announced that Tom Pittman, MD, and John Kestle, MD, were nominated for Members at Large for the 2007-2009 term, to join Jeffrey Blount, MD, and Nalin Gupta, MD (the term of Bruce Kaufman to expire). This will create an opening for Membership Committee chair, which is an appointed position. Additional nominations included the following: Chair-Elect: T. Duhaime, Secretary: A. Cohen, and Treasurer: B. Kaufman. These nominations were approved by the Executive Committee. Nominations from the floor were solicited; there being none, a vote was taken and all nominations were approved by the membership.

Distinguished Service Award—Dr. Parent
Dr. Parent announced that Robin Humphreys, MD, will receive this award at the winter 2007 Pediatric Section meeting.

Education Committee—Paul Steinbok, MD
Dr. Steinbok reported that one of the focus areas for the Education Committee has been on international education. The Executive Committee has agreed to contribute $5,000 each to upcoming ISPN-sponsored courses in Beijing and Manila in 2007, and $10,000 for a course sponsored by the Pediatric Section and the Latin American Federation that is planned for Colombia in 2007. The European Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery is also planning courses in South Africa, Asia, and Europe, and the committee is looking into participation by the Pediatric Section in these efforts.

The Education Committee has compiled a list of Pediatric Section members interested in participating in international outreach, and the ESPN can choose from this list for potential participants. Additional Pediatric Section members who are interested should contact members of the Education Committee, and the committee will request input from Pediatric Section members. The committee will compile a list of international meetings. Finally, the issue was raised that there may be differences of opinion among Pediatric Section members as to the role of the Pediatric Section in international outreach efforts. A survey seeking feedback is discussed elsewhere on this issue.

The Education Committee is also working with Joseph Piatt, MD, and other members of the AAP Section on Neurological Surgery to gather input on potential educational topics that both pediatric neurosurgeons and pediatricians agree are useful to pediatricians.

Dr. Abbott noted that the new Pediatric Section Web site is expected to be operational within the next few months and that it will be a vehicle for requesting and disseminating Pediatric Section educational publications.

Old Business—none

New Business
Dr. Abbott reported that the ISPM will be held in Liverpool on September 9-13, 2007, and William Harkness, MD, will be one of the meeting’s organizers. The scientific program will include epilepsy, oncology, dysraphism, hydrocephalus, and trauma (especially, decompressive craniectomy). The 2008 ISPN meeting is planned for Capetown, South Africa.

John Ragheb, MD, spoke to the Pediatric Section membership about Project Medi-Share, an outreach project with Haiti. Haiti has a population of 8 million people and only three neurosurgeons, and they have little neurosurgical training or education. Dr. Ragheb has been involved in some outreach and meetings with Haiti’s Minister of Health as well as the Dean of the School of Medicine about establishing a training program. Paul Farmer, MD, has been involved in novel health outreach programs that have been effective against various endemic diseases and have garnered international attention. Dr. Ragheb is looking for additional teams of specialists, including neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses. Interested Pediatric Section members should contact him for further information.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

A.C. Duhaime, MD
Secretary