IMSOP becomes ISCoS!

At the Annual General Meeting in Nottwil, Switzerland, September 2001, it was agreed that we would change the name of our Society. The majority agreed on the name:

International Spinal Cord Society

The History of ISCoS

The Spinal Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital was founded in February 1944 by Dr Ludwig Guttmann (later Sir Ludwig Guttmann). It was a Ministry of Pensions Hospital for the treatment of injured servicemen and ex-servicemen. In 1952 it became the National Spinal Injuries Centre, part of the British National Health Service.

In 1948 the National Stoke Mandeville Games were started and in 1952 the International Stoke Mandeville Games were founded. In 1955 the doctors from various countries who accompanied their teams to these Games, started to meet informally to discuss their clinical work and research. As these meetings became larger and more formal, the International Medical Society of Paraplegia was founded in 1961 with Sir Ludwig Guttmann as the President.

In the early years, the Annual Scientific Meetings were held at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, except in Olympic years when they were held in association with the Paralympics. The Annual Scientific Meetings are now held in many different countries and in addition there are Regional Meetings supported by the Society, throughout the world.  

Prof. Sir Ludwig Guttmann, CBE, FRS  

Founder and First President

Prof. Sir Ludwig Guttmann, CBE, FRS


Subsequent Presidents

Dr Herb Talbot	USA	1970 - 73
Dr Albert Tricot	Belgium	1973 - 77
Prof. Volkmar Paeslack	Germany	1977 - 80
Sir George Bedbrook	Australia	1980 - 84
Prof. Alain Rossier	Switzerland	1984 - 88
Dr Ed Carter	USA	1988 - 92
Dr Paul Dollfus	France	1992 - 96
Dr Hans Frankel	UK	1996 - 00
Prof. Takaaki Ikata	Japan	2000 - 04
Prof. W Donovan	USA	2004 -

 

The Objectives of ISCoS

International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) shall:

1. Serve as an international impartial, non-political and non-profit making association whose purpose is to study all problems relating to traumatic and non-traumatic lesions of the spinal cord. This includes causes, prevention, basic and clinical research, medical and surgical management, clinical practice, education, rehabilitation and social reintegration. This society will function in close collaboration with other national and international bodies, thereby encouraging the most efficient use of available resources.
2. Provide a scientific exchange among its members and others by collecting and disseminating information through publications, correspondence, exhibits, regional and international seminars, symposia, conferences and otherwise
3. Advise, encourage, promote and when requested, assist in efforts to co-ordinate or guide research, development and evaluation activities related to spinal cord lesions throughout the world.
4. Advise, encourage, guide and support the efforts of those responsible for the care of patients involved and when requested, correlate these activities throughout the world.
5. Advise, encourage, guide and support the efforts of those responsible for the education and training of medical professionals and professionals allied to medicine and when requested, correlate these activities throughout the world.

The International Spinal Cord Society shall work in collaboration with national and international bodies, thereby encouraging the most efficient use of available resources worldwide.

The Swiss Interdevelopment Fund of ISCoS
Thanks to the generosity of the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, a "Swiss Interdevelopment Fund" was established to provide limited financial help to doctors in the developing countries to:

• become Full Members of the Society
• receive the monthly journal SPINAL CORD
• develop specialised SCI medical services
• attend the Annual Scientific Meeting of ISCoS and submit papers for presentation at these meetings
• undertake research work in a subject related to SCI
• receive scholarships
• submit papers for publication in SPINAL CORD

Further information is available from the Honorary Secretary.

PARADOC - the documentation Centre on Spinal Cord Lesions

Paradoc is the name given to the ongoing project of a specific database created by the joint initiatives of ISCoS, its Education Committee, and the Swiss Paraplegics Foundation (SPF). It is based in the library of the Swiss Paraplegic Centre in Nottwil, Switzerland.
The aim of Paradoc is to collect publications and references concerning education and training on the subject of spinal cord lesions. Thus we want to:

• promote the exchange of information on an international basis, especially towards developing countries.
• encorage translations of teaching/training media into national or regional languages at low cost.
• collect and safeguard historical publications on spinal cord lesions (books, articles, etc).

ParaDoc is destined to patients and their families as well as doctors, allied professionals, hospitals, rehabilitation centres and community based libraries. To make it a useful education reference tool we need your ideas and support. We are grateful for any kind of literature that can be referred to us.

www.paradoc.org

Procedure and information required
when applying to host the Annual Scientific Meeting of
the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS)