Next week, it is a matter of great honour and privilege to invite you all to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India for attending BRAINSTORM 2019, a joint collaborative educational venture of Indian Academy of Neurology (IAN), Association of Indian Neurologists in America (AINA), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and PGIMER, Chandigarh to be held from April 12-13-14, 2019.

A galaxy of speakers from all these organisations are jointly working hard to provide an academic feast, which can satiate the desire of everyone with everything, especially for budding neurologists. The scientific program will cover a large number of neurological disorders like
Neuro-ophthalmology, Dementia, Stroke, Epilepsy, Ataxia and Neuro-Infections.

http://www.brainstorm2019.in/download/e-Brochure.pdf

Last summer, Dr. Zain Guduru, an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Kentucky, interviewed the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Dr. Vinay Chaudhry. Please listen in on the interview and hear more about Dr. Chaudhry and his experiences!

Please click here for the interview. 

AINA is now seeking Executive Committee members for upcoming terms. If you are interested in serving on the AINA Executive Committee for the period of 2019-2021, please send a 2-3 paragraph statement of interest with information on your current position and ideas that you have to move AINA forward in the coming years. Please share this to the AINA Office by April 25th, and will be reviewed by the AINA Executive Committee. Thanks in advance for your interest in leadership of our growing Association! 

On behalf of the AINA Executive Committee, I would like to invite you to join us for the 36^th AINA Annual Meeting. Come see old colleagues and make new friends in the City of Brotherly Love.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. David Holtzman, President of the American Neurological Association, as our keynote speaker this year. We have received a record number of applications for the AINA resident and trainee awards and we are delighted to recognize this year’s AINA Lifetime Achievement award winner, Dr. Ram Ayyar.

We look forward to welcoming you soon at this year’s AINA Annual Meeting.

-Seemant Chaturvedi, MD, FAAN

AINA President

Dr. Khatri is Professor of Neurology at the University of Cincinnati. She is well known as a leading authority on acute stroke trials dealing with thrombolysis and stroke intervention. She served as lead author for the PRISMS trial, investigating role of thrombolysis in patients with mild stroke. The ESO thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke guidelines are published in the European Stroke Journal. Congrats to Dr. Khatri!

Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran MD MS, an internationally recognized leader in vascular neurology and stroke research and treatment, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Prabhakaran joins the department from Northwestern University where he served as Professor of Neurology, Director of Stroke Research, Director of the Vascular Neurology Fellowship, and Director of the Stroke Quality and Outcomes Research Enterprise. He currently serves as principal investigator of the Chicago regional coordinating center in the National Institutes of Health’s stroke trials network (NIH StrokeNet).

In addition to his leadership in reorganizing the stroke system of care in Chicago over the past decade, Dr. Prabhakaran has a strong track record of extramurally funded clinical and translational research that focuses on uncovering the underlying causes of recurrent strokes, improving the delivery of stroke care, and optimizing patient outcomes and recovery. He has led projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). His research is at the interface between clinical stroke, neuroimaging, and health services/community health. Currently, Dr. Prabhakaran is leading a multi-site NIH-funded study of imaging predictors of recurrent stroke in patients with intracranial atherosclerotic disease. In addition, he is the principal investigator for a recently awarded study funded by AHRQ that aims to improve pre-hospital and inter-hospital stroke care using machine learning and other novel approaches.

Dr. Prabhakaran received his medical education at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now known as Rutgers New Jersey Medical School), and completed his residency in neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, serving as chief resident in his final year. He followed this with a clinical fellowship in vascular neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and completed a T32 training program in neuro-epidemiology there while simultaneously earning a Master of Science degree in epidemiology at Columbia University.

AINA congratulates Dr. Prabhakaran for this great achievement!

David Holtzman, ANA President 

AINA is pleased to announce the 2019 Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker, Dr. David Holtzman, Dr. Holtzman is President of the American Neurological Association and is recognized as one of the leading authorities on Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Dr. Holtzman's talk will focus on Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease:  An update on how we practically approach the disease and what will change dramatically in the next 5-20 years. Register today to join us for this great event of approximately 150 attendees during the AAN Annual Meeting. More information to come soon!

The Resident and Fellows Section has been recently airing interviews with prestigious neurologists. Resident and Fellows Section Member, Rahul Guha interviewed Dr Nirmal Surya. Dr. Surya is the treasurer of the Indian Academy of Neurology and founding trustee and chairman of the Epilepsy Foundation of India. We discussed the challenges of providing sustainable epilepsy care to patients in India. Please view the interview recording here!

Ram Ayyar, M.D., is Emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Miami. He had his postgraduate training in Neurology in India and subsequently went to England to work under the renowned neurologist Lord Walton at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. His further training was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ram had the good fortune of training under Dr. Edward H. Lambert, the pioneer in the field of Electromyograph “the father of EMG”.  After a short stint at Wayne State University, Ram joined the faculty at the department of Neurology University of Miami in 1976. He became a Tenured Professor of Neurology and was Vice Chairman for Clinical Affairs for several years. He was also Director of the Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship Program and Director of EMG Laboratory from 1976 until his partial retirement in 2018.

During his tenure of directorship of the fellowship program he had the opportunity to train more than 70 fellows. They were from USA, India, Pakistan, Europe, Japan and South America. Many of them now occupy prestigious positions in different parts of the world. Ram maintains a close relationship with his former fellows. He is held in high esteem by the residents, fellows and faculty members for his clinical expertise and teaching ability. He has been invited to many countries as a visiting professor.

He has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and has been given outstanding teacher of the year award many times. In addition to his expertise in neuromuscular diseases in the last 3 decades he has developed a special interest in ciguatera fish poisoning. His close work with the Rosensteil Marine School at the University of Miami has been productive and has resulted in several papers.  Ciguatera is one of the most common food poisoning that is seen. Ciguatoxin interferes with sodium channel function. Ram is well known to the members of AINA and was actively involved in the early stages of the formation of the association.

AINA extends sincere congratulations to Dr. Ayyar for his lifetime of great work! Dr. Ayyar will be recognized at the 36th Annual AINA Dinner Meeting in conjunction with AAN's annual meeting.

In 2007, the AAN Foundation partnered with the Association of Indian Neurologists in America (AINA) to create an award recognizing those who have been committed to advancing the Indian neurologic community. The AINA presented the AAN Foundation Chair Austin Sumner, MD, with a $50,000 check to endow the award.

The AINA Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a leader in neurology by her/his peers. The recipient will be a North American neurologist chosen based on her/his dedication in advancing the training of North American neurologists of Indian origin and promoting innovation and research in the field of neurology. The recipient will have supported Indian neurologists over a significant period of time in achieving meaningful progress toward expressed goals.

AINA Executive Committee Member Dr. Prachi Mehndiratta received the 2019 A.B. Baker Teach Recognition Award for her contributions to improving neurology now and in the future. Teaching binds students, residents, faculty, other clinicians, researchers, and even patients, together and helps make our daily work more meaningful. This award demonstrates respect and appreciation for neurologic teaching. Dr. Mehndiratta is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Department of Neurology at Virginia Commonwealth University. She will receive a certificate of recognition from the AAN. 

Congratulations to Dr. Mehndiratta!