President’s message
What a week in Cairo! The 52nd ISPN meeting was an incredible success. Congratulations and thank you to Mohamed El Beltagy and his entire team. We had a fantastic meeting, incredible hospitality and the Networking Dinner on the last night was outdoors at the pyramids – unbelievable. If you missed it, make sure you are there next year in Taipei.
The Society is in great shape thanks to the many people doing the work to advocate for children, educate colleagues and support the development of pediatric neurosurgery across the globe. Membership and meeting attendance have almost tripled in the last 10 years. A third of our members are women. This year more than 80 countries were represented in the scientific abstracts. The relationships that are developed through the ISPN are so valuable – we have the opportunity to work with people from different places and backgrounds, learn about their culture and hear diverse approaches to pediatric neurosurgical problems. It is eye-opening and humbling to understand how children receive great care in some very challenging circumstances. For me, the best part of the Society is the people and the relationships. As we grow, it still feels like a group of old friends and there is a strong culture of sharing, supporting, hard work and respect. It’s a unique special feeling. For all those reasons it is an enormous honor for me to serve as President this year and to work alongside the many talented women and men in the ISPN as we continue this exciting trajectory into 2027.
There are many challenges. How do we support the countries that have a huge burden of disease and small neurosurgical workforce? How do we effect change when/where it’s needed? How will AI impact the way we work, write and learn? Can we improve the process of transition as children move into adulthood? Can the incredible progress in molecular diagnosis and targeted therapy be more widely disseminated around the world? While these and many other challenges may seem insurmountable, I trust that we can make steps in the right direction when I look at the some of the recent successes of our Executive Board and ISPN members. Our immediate past president Tony Figaji is part of a group leading the effort to make TBI a reportable condition. Our president elect, Nelci Zanon, has been an incredible international champion for women in medicine and neurosurgery. Michael Dewan and his team managed 858 abstracts and put on a fantastic Scientific Program in Cairo and Ashley Birch organized a well-attended Nursing Symposium. Following on the 2023 World Health Assembly resolution in favor of folic acid fortification Adrian Caceres, Kemel Ghotme and Jeff Blount are working on implementation with several African and Asian countries adopting this policy. The consistent growth in ISPN membership has been the result of strong efforts by many people most recently Bob Keating, who has added new membership categories that diversify our membership and make us more accessible to trainees, LMIC Surgeons, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals. New partnerships with industry have recently been negotiated by Guirish Solanki to support our educational work. A thriving international curriculum of in-person and online webinars and courses has been led by Artur Da Cunha. Eylem Ocal has established a mentoring program for trainees and junior faculty. Samer Elbabaa has established 10 MOUs with other pediatric neurosurgical societies and organizations to facilitate closer working relationships. The Guide, a long-standing contribution of Rick Abbott, is now supplemented by the Library thanks to Shlomi Constantini – together these provide a valuable learning resource for members. Of course, none of this can happen without the keen eye of a treasurer and Rich Anderson has kept us on track and made changes to enhance the ISPN finances to help secure our sustainability. Ronnie Baticulon has greatly enhanced our social media presence and setup mechanisms for constant communication across the world (so different than 10 years ago when the Executive Board met once a year!) Benedetta Pettorini managed the broad portfolio of scholarships and travelling fellowships, Allison Wray developed ISPN policies on some tricky ethical issues and Suchanda Bhattacharjee kept the bylaws in synch with our growing activity. Finally, we are very fortunate that Uli Thomale has taken on the task of Editor in Chief for Childs Nervous system. This is our journal and I’m asking all of you to contribute to the essential work of the peer review process when asked.
Thank you to the Executive Board for your work for the ISPN. Some of you are moving on from these roles but we still need your ideas and support so please remain active and engaged. There are many other members working with these Committee Chairs – thank you for your time and effort. For new members of the EB, welcome, and thank you for taking this on. A special thanks to Kristina Semkovska (Kenes) and Merve Tufecki (Kenes/now Corvian) for excellent support of the Society and the Annual Meetings.
In conclusion, thank you for the opportunity to work with all of you. Let’s have a great year for ISPN and support Meng-Fai Kuo who is organizing a fabulous 53rd ISPN meeting Oct 31- Nov 4, 2027. See you in Taipei!
John Kestle
ISPN President 2026-2027
