Welcome

Sergio Aito - Chairman

Dear colleagues and friends,

It has been extremely exciting to be at the centre of the spinal cord lesion community while organising the 48th International Meeting of ISCoS.  It has been a great challenge, but it was much easier with the help of the ISCoS guidelines on one hand and the collaboration of Susie Charlifue, chair of the Scientific Committee, on the other.
Marianne Bint, Raffaella, my wife, Bernardo and Thomas, my sons, Giulio del Popolo, co-chairman of the congress, and Ornella Sessa, were so precious that nothing would have been possible without their support.

This year the main topics are: management of spasticity, spinal lesions in children, new treatments of pressure ulcers, outcome prediction and measurement and urinary incontinence.
The scientific sessions will be preceded by several pre-meeting workshops aimed to give to the delegates the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the topics that will be discussed during the following 3 days.   Other workshops are also scheduled during the three day scientific meeting.
They will be held by outstanding clinicians and the most brilliant researchers engaged in those fields.

John Ditunno, during the opening ceremony, will enlighten us with the Sir Ludwig Guttmann lecture titled “Outcome Measures: Evolution in Clinical Trials” and Wagih El Masry, president of ISCoS, will open the scientific sessions with a lecture titled “Past, present and Future of ISCoS: da piccola ghianda a grande quercia”.
Among the other lecturers, I would like to mention Jacopo Bonavita who, on behalf of SoMIPar, will present the clinical guidelines for the management in the first month following the spinal injury proposed by the Italian Scientific Society of Spinal Cord.
Out of the several symposia, I want to underline the “Advanced Research Symposium” that will be held in the Auditorium on Friday 23rd. It will focus on the pharmacological, cell therapy and rehabilitation interventions aimed at neural repair. It will be immediately followed, in the Sala Verde, by a free papers session that will include the presentations of some of the clinical trials mentioned before.
Nine free paper sessions and 186 selected posters, displayed in dedicated area at the Congress Hall, will enrich the program.
The best posters and oral communications will be awarded during the closing ceremony.

I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the ISCoS board that gave me this opportunity, all the delegates, all those who helped and supported me during this mission, all the chairs and invited speakers who accepted to enrich our program for workshops, symposia and scientific sessions, even without any financial support, and all the sponsors who helped us hold the 48th annual scientific meeting.
I am delighted to welcome all of you in beautiful and artistic Florence in the spirit of friendship that has always characterised the annual ISCoS meetings, and wish you and your accompanying guests a wonderful stay in Italy, enjoying our culture, and, hopefully,  our sweet October weather.  I look forward to meeting you during the congress and to being together at the gala dinner on Friday evening, where we will enjoy good food, good wine and beautiful live music.

Sergio Aito
President of the Congress