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President's Address
ASSFN President’s Message update, July 2006
President’s message
The mission of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery is “to foster the use of stereotactic and functional neurological methods for the treatment of diseases of the nervous system. Our goal is to advance stereotactic and functional neurosurgery and related sciences, to improve patient care, to support meaningful basic and clinical research, to provide leadership in undergraduate and graduate education and continuing education, and to provide administrative facilities necessary to meet these goals.” (see http://assfn.org/constitution/default.asp).
Accordingly, the ASSFN is a “big tent”. Our members are a diverse group, representing expertise that may seem divergent in a world of increasing subspecialization. Do neurosurgeons interested in movement disorders, radiosurgery, pain, and image guidance really have anything in common?
The answer is, undoubtedly, a resounding yes. There remains a strong clinical and intellectual overlap among these and other areas. The neurosurgeon doing tumor radiosurgery today may find that this technique has exciting applications for patients with tremor or pain. New refinements in image guidance and functional imaging will find their way into the operating room for all functional surgical indications. History also sends us a warning against an overly narrow definition of stereotactic surgery. Medical advances of the kind that in the past led to a near-disappearance of our field, and which can only be welcomed if they are of value to our patients, may well be repeated. That is why our journal, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and our meetings will continue to serve as venues for an inclusive definition of stereotaxis. As was made clear at our recent meeting in Boston, there are whole new therapeutic avenues and pathologies waiting for neurosurgical solutions. The ASSFN will be at the forefront of these efforts as neurosurgery tackles such problems as depression, tinnitus, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Being named President of the ASSFN at this time is truly an honor. We still are riding a wave of great innovation in our understanding of brain function and our ability to manipulate it for patient benefit. This has also been a time of great innovation in our society. The move to a biennial meeting schedule is complete and has greatly energized us all, as have the improvements introduced to our journal. We have opened up leadership positions to a wider representation of the membership. One and all are invited to step up and help us with our mission.
As George Allen, the great American football coach, was fond of saying, “the future is now”. Never was this more true than in the field of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, today.
Michael Schulder, MD