Welcome Message

I am delighted to announce that the 51^st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology will be held in Tokyo (Tokyo International Forum) from Thursday, May 20 to Saturday, May 22, 2010. The Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary during the year 2009 to 2010. At the 50th Annual Meeting in Sendai in 2009, through various lectures and symposia we looked back over the half-century of our Society's history and looked also toward the future. At the 51^st Annual Meeting in 2010, we will look toward the future, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary together with distinguished guests closely related to our Society.

The theme for the 51^st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology has been set as “Future of Neurology—Breakthrough to the next stage—.” As represented in the theme, I hope that the Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity for all of us to look ahead to the future of neurology and our Society in the next half-century.

We have achieved tremendous advances in better understanding neurological diseases and developing more efficacious treatment over the last half century. Great strides have been made in all areas, of which diagnostic imaging, molecular genetics, immunology and physiology are just a few examples, and understanding of diseases has similarly taken a great leap forward. In terms of treatment, ground-breaking regimens have been developed based on newly discovered molecular mechanisms of diseases, which have come to be known as molecular-targeted therapies. These remarkable advances in translational research have thus served to raise expectations above all else.

In Japan, the aging of society coupled with the declining birthrate has placed ever-increasing expectations on neurologists to provide better care for dementia, cerebrovascular disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Given this situation our Society is required to provide outstanding education in both the pre- and post-graduate context, and, furthermore, to ensure that excellent training programs are available for young neurologists preparing for Board certification.

Looking towards the future of neurology, we should continue to anticipate new, ground-breaking achievements for better understanding neurological diseases and establishing more effective treatment through our ongoing endeavors. On the occasion of this memorable 51^st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology, with an eye to advancing resolutely into our second half-century, I hope that each and every one of the Society's members will utilize the meeting as a forum to consider questions of how we pursue professional careers as neurologists and in what ways we are going to break through to the next stage.

51^st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology
President: Shoji Tsuji