President's Report

We had a great turn out at the last scientific meeting in Iceland. Those present were treated to informative and impressive scientific sessions, superbly hosted by our Icelandic colleagues and highlighted by this year's Sir Ludwig Guttmann Lecturer, Dr Kristjian Ragnarsson who spoke on Functional Electrical Stimulation. Other highlights included a pre-conference session, sponsored by Coloplast and as a nod to technology, a video teleconference between Reykjavik and Cleveland on Direct Stimulation of the Diaphragm for People with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) above the Phrenic Nucleus.

One item from the Annual General Meeting also worth highlighting is that the members passed a motion to limit the term of President to 2 years. This required a change to the Constitution which previously allowed for re-election of the President to a second 2 year term after the first. The Executive Committee will propose to Council at the 2008 meeting whether the next President-elect will be chosen in 2008 or 2009 and then every 2 years thereafter. Dr S Katoh from Japan was elected Honorary Secretary. He will take office in 2008, succeeding Mr W El Masry.

The social programmes were also most enjoyable and included a performance by one of Iceland's best known female vocalists. We are extremely grateful to Sigrún Knútsdóttir and Stefán Yngvason and the rest of the Organizing Committee for all their hard work in making this 2007 meeting a great success.

I hope that you were able to linger a few days after the meeting, as I did, to enjoy the salubrious weather, the "midnight sun" and many of the attractions of nature.

It is heart warming for me to see how ISCoS has grown to well over 1,000 members and has acquired a reputation for superb scientific meetings, a universally respected scientific journal and a smoothly functioning organizational structure with a sound financial footing. It is quite clear now that our policy of having joint scientific meetings with a regional SCI society each year has proved to be a win-win situation.

As my term as your President will expire at the conclusion of the 2008 meeting in Durban, South Africa, I want to now express my sincere thanks to those with whom I have worked, and upon whose help I have relied: the Executive Committee; Mr El Masry, Mr McClelland and Prof Wyndaele, the Committee Chairs; Dr Chaabra, Dr Brown and Dr Biering-Sorenson and all the Vice Presidents and Committee Members for their hard work and support of me during my term. But most of all I want to thank Marianne Bint and Heather Edwards for the secretarial and organizational skills that they bring to our Society and the help they have provided to all of us.

I hope to see as many of our members and guests as possible in Durban next August. I have been following the preparations already ongoing that Dr Rob Campbell and his Team are making for the scientific sessions and the educational conference for African attendees being organized by Dr Campbell and Dr Chaabra and their Teams. I promise you it will be a great meeting. If you can, I suggest you also make plans to see some of the attractions South Africa has to offer while there. The web site for the meeting is up and running and there is a link with the ISCoS site. Check it out! Remember that in 2009, we meet in Florence.

See you in Durban!

William H Donovan, MD
President