AAN kicks off first in-person conference in 3 years

Natalia S. Rost, MD, MPH, chair of the AAN science committee, led a discussion to highlight select studies being presented at the AAN’s annual meeting April 2-7 in Seattle.

“We are anticipating thousands of excited academics, researchers and trainees across multiple neurological subspecialties, anxiously waiting for the opportunity to present nearly 3,000 original abstracts, engage in lively discussions of the scientific sessions and network in real-live poster halls,” Rost said in an AAN virtual press conference.

Rost, who also is chief of the stroke division in the department of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, noted that this will be the first AAN conference held in person in 3 years, due to restrictions from COVID-19.

“We missed all of this so much during the past 3 years,” she said. “Communication is the essence of science, and we're delighted to bring that universal forum for scientific communication back at the annual meeting in Seattle.”

Rost revealed the theme of this year’s meeting will be, “The future of science is now.”

“As I look back at our conference even 5 years ago, I'm astounded by how much progress has been made in research and scientific discovery,” Rost said. “Where something that we thought was quite elusive — perhaps aspiring but still unreachable due to limitations of existing technologies and, frankly, futuristic — is rapidly evolving into a translational reality.”