31st International Epilepsy Congress

It has been a great pleasure to have all the guests in Istanbul between 05-09 September 2015 for the 31st IEC. The conference has already become history but its memories remain fresh in our minds. It was also a historic event as the biggest global meeting in this part of the world. With your contribution, and the support of ILAE and IBE, the outstanding execution of the Scientific Program became the core of the congress success. Starting with WONOEP on Princes Islands which preceded the congress and brought together basic scientist and clinicians, our academic marathon reached its culmination with the accomplishment of the 31st IEC.

Despite the irresistible temptations of the city of Istanbul, the presence of 2,591 delegates from 160 countries in the Lütfi Kırdar Convention Center confirmed the terrific performance of all the speakers and moderators. Sixty three percent of the participants were physicians, 6% were non-physician health professionals, 14% were trainees, including physician in training, and 15% were basic scientists. From antiepileptic drug trials including cannabinoids to genetics and surgery, from status epilepticus and immune related epilepsies to human rights and social issues, a great variety of topics were comprehensively covered by the speakers while stimulating panel discussions followed all the presentations. Four prizes were awarded by Epilepsia, Epileptic Disorders, the Michael prize and the new Harinarayan Young Neuroscientist Award endowed by the neurobiology commission and sponsored by the Harinarayan family to encourage young researchers.

The presidential symposium on one of the hot topics of genetics involved not only the most recent findings but also a touching story of a patient who was diagnosed with a calcium channel mutation after several years of work by a geneticist who was also her mother. The video of this session is available for those who missed it or would like to view it again.

The morning teaching sessions, on VIREPA course related specific topics and enriched with interactive video sessions, attracted a large audience and formed a bridge between the experience of basic and clinical scientists. Furthermore clinic-pathological case discussion sessions' debates on the pros and cons of the most troublesome issues took place for the very first time.

The two additional sessions by the neurobiology commission on optogenetics and by IBE on the social aspect of epilepsy were invaluable additions to the congress.

We took a moment to remember world-renowned leaders in epilepsy who have passed: Jean Aicardi, Yukio Fukuyama, Mike Hills, and Harry Meinardi.

Fred Anderman was honored for his immense contribution to our field with Lifetime Achievement Award. Shungon Lai was presented the Social Accomplishment Award, and 12 new ambassadors for epilepsy were announced during the welcome ceremony.

A fantastic concert during the opening ceremony was given by Tuluyhan Uğurlu, a famous Turkish pianist and composer enriched with gorgeous photos of Istanbul.

There were also 959 poster and 95 platform presentations with recent enlightening findings.

Another delight of the congress were the awards given to the winners of the national Photography and Painting Competition organized by the Turkish Epilepsy Society (see the winners of both competitions below). With the impressive attendance of the participants, we felt happy to have contributed to a social responsibility event that raises awareness about epilepsy.

We hope the congress proved instructive and entertaining for you, as well as providing you with an excellent opportunity for networking and meeting colleagues from around the world. We are looking forward to meeting you again for another such great event in Istanbul in the near future.

Candan Gürses, Chair, Turkish Epilepsy Society
Çiğdem Özkara, Vice Chairman, Turkish Epilepsy Society

Presidential Symposium:
Doctor, is my epilepsy genetic, and what consequences does it have?

Co-Chairs: Emilio Perucca (Italy), Athanasios Covanis (Greece)

How genetics are changing the epilepsy landscape [0:00]
Sam Berkovic (Australia)

I'm confused - who do I test, when do I test, how do I test? And what do I tell the patient? [25:25]
Iscia Lopes-Cendes (Brazil)

How genes affect response to treatment [52:00]
Sanjay Sisodiya (UK)

The pros and cons of knowing the answer [01:21:40]
Tracy Dixon-Salazar (USA)

Presidential Symposium video

CME Credits for 2015 International Epilepsy Congress in Istanbul

Certificates:
You can download your certificate from your epilepsycongress account if you didn't have a chance to print it onsite. If you need assistance, contact istanbul@epilepsycongress.org.

Credits:
The 31st International Epilepsy Congress is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) to provide the following CME activity for medical specialists. The EACCME is an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), www.uems.net.

The 31st International Epilepsy Congress is designated for a maximum of 24 hours of European external CME credits. Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity. The EACCME credit system is based on 1 ECMEC per hour with a maximum of 3 ECMECs for half a day and 6 ECMECs for a full-day event.

Through an agreement between the European Union of Medical Specialists and the American Medical Association, physicians may convert EACCME credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM. Information on the process to convert EACCME credit to AMA credit can be found at www.ama-assn.org/go/internationalcme.

Live educational activities, occurring outside of Canada, recognized by the UEMS-EACCME for ECMEC credits are deemed to be Accredited Group Learning Activities (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Awards

Attendees, venue, and more

Photo Contest

Painting Contest