Minutes of Elections of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Toulouse, France October 11th, 2002 Attendees: Brian Brophy, Bengt Linderoth, Andries Bosch, Joachim Krauss, Yucel Kanpolat, David Thomas, Peter Heilbrun, Andres Lozano, Marc Sindou Guest: Mario Meglio Regrets: David Roberts, Francisco Velasco, Tomo Hori, Khalaf Al Moutaery, G. Rees Cosgrove, Phil Gildenberg, Alim Benabid, San Sup Chung, Patrick Kelly, Dade Lunsford, Raul Marino, Zengmin Tian President's Report Dr. Brophy gave a report of the WSSFN meeting held in Adelaide, Australia in Sept 2001. This meeting was an outstanding success, both from scientific and social aspects as well as the economic standpoint. Dr. Brophy has presented a cheque for $50,000 Cdn to the Secretary/Treasurer to be deposited in the WSSFN account. This represents the profit from the meeting, and Dr. Brophy stated that there may be additional monies coming once the tax liability is resolved. Dr. Brophy reminded the board members that we have several classes of awards at the Quadrennial meeting, including the Spiegel and Weiss award for outstanding contributions to the field of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery on a worldwide basis, honorary membership given to senior neurosurgeons given for lifelong achievements and contributions in the field, and the awards to young neurosurgeons for the best paper presented at the meetings. Board members were asked to consider potential candidates for these awards. Vice-President Report Dr. David Thomas has outlined the important interactions between the WSSFN the ESSFN and the World Federation of Neurosurgery. A proposal was made by Dr. Meglio to combine the WSSFN meeting in Roma in 2005 with the International Neuromodulation Society Meeting. Dr. Thomas led the discussion on this topic. The WSSFN will be held in the week before the World Federation of Neurosurgery meeting to be held in Marrakesh in June of 2005. It was felt that the INS meeting could be held immediately before the WSSFN meeting and that there could be a one-day overlap between the two meetings, that is, the last day of the INS meeting would overlap with the pre-meeting workshops of the WSSFN meeting. It was felt to be important to keep the identity of the two societies distinct. Secretary/Treasurer Report Dr. Lozano reported that currently there is approximately $110,000 US in the WSSFN Treasury accounts after the recent deposit from the Adelaide meeting (50,000 Cdn). These funds are in a variety of certificates of deposits as well as in a cash account. All of these are held in Toronto, with the exception of a small account held in Houston. Dr. Lozano announced that a WSSFN newsletter is to be produced yearly, with the first coming out towards the end of 2002. This was felt to be important to maintain contact with the membership on a yearly basis. Also, $3,000 per year has been set aside for travel of the WSSFN Officers to attend board meetings. This will be provided on the basis of demonstrated financial need. Members will be encouraged to obtain their own funding, but $1000 per person will be made available for three officers. Past President's Report Dr. Sindou informed us that there will be a World Federation of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Satellite Meeting in the month of December of 2003 in Ryad, Saudi Arabia. The Chairman is Khaled Al-Moutaery. The Journal report Dr. Lozano reported on the journal in the absence of Dr. David Roberts, the new editor of Stereotactic and Functional Surgery. Dr. Roberts has recently taken up this position and will work towards making the journal the best that it can be. He may call upon many of the board members for their expertise in providing articles as well as in reviewing. The Constitution and Bylaws The Constitution and Bylaws of our society require revision and Dr. Andres Lozano and Dr. Phil Gildenberg will spearhead this effort. WSSFN Meeting 2005 The 2005 WSSFN meeting plans are proceeding well. Dr. Meglio is the meeting chair. The meeting will be held in Roma, Italy from June 14th -18th. Dr. Meglio will secure the site and will prepare a budget for the meeting. Advancing funds for Dr. Meglio was discussed along with providing partial indemnity of up to $30, 000 should there be a financial shortfall in the meeting. Other Meetings The upcoming meeting of the ASSFN will be held in New York City at the Park Plaza hotel. Dr. Patrick Kelly is the local organizer with Dr. Douglas Kondziolka as the President and Dr. Andres Lozano as the Scientific Program Chair. An informal board meeting of the WSSFN will be held during this time. The dates for the ASSFN meeting in New York City are May 18-21, 2003. Website Dr. Lozano made a request for some assistance with the website and would appreciate the identification by each board member of some young neurosurgeons in their geographic region who could help in organizing material and providing content for the website found at www.wssfn.org There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.