SECRETARY'S NOTE

Dear members of the IAN family,

Happy new year to everyone!

It gives me immense pleasure to be writing to you all as the new secretary of your academy. I am very aware that the Secretary is the first servant of the academy. Getting elected unopposed only adds to the responsibility that I now carry on my shoulders. I will start by saying that I will strive hard to repay your faith in me. My predecessor Prof Gagandeep Singh has worked very hard during his tenure and has been actively helping me in this transition. I place on record my sincere gratitude to all the office bearers of the IAN who have worked (and continue to work) so hard over so many years. The pandemic has put an unprecedented brake on many of our activities and social gatherings and has cruelly taken away some of our esteemed erstwhile colleagues. Four senior neurologists (all from Tamilnadu) have succumbed to the virus and the Academy is that much poorer because of that.

In the meantime, IAN has been actively involved in the conduct of monthly webinars with each subsection being allotted a session, by rotation. We are all indeed sad that our annual conference could not happen in 2020 but we are looking forward to a hugely successful IANCON 2020-21 to be conducted in Bengaluru in November 2021. While none of us have any hold over natural calamities and disasters, am sure you will all join me in praying that we get back to our old physical conferences and meetings at the earliest. The organising committee is not leaving any stone unturned and I am confident that it will be another milestone in the IAN’s journey.

The National Brain week celebrations were conducted from 18th to 24th December 2020, led by our National convener for the same Dr Chandrasekar Meshram who has impressed everyone with his innovative thinking and meticulous planning. The IAN runners’ group has most enthusiastically participated in the celebrations and am very happy to state that they (58 participants) logged 3109 kms of running as a group in 8 days’ time. Dr Suryanarayana Sharma has been the driving force behind this.

I request you all to take care of your health and fitness and invite you to join the IAN runners group which is a highly motivational group promoting mindful fitness amongst the neurologists of this country. Please do get in touch with me if you wish to join this fitness journey and change your life.

I request you to all to play an active role in this family and send in your constructive comments and suggestions to iansecretary@gmail,com. I assure you that any constructive suggestion would be taken to the executive committee for its consideration. Together let us all make this academy a strong and inclusive family which is always in tune with the times while adhering to the policies and objectives with which it was created by our venerable founding members.

Warm personal regards,
Dr. U. Meenakshisundaram