Dear members of CERI Executive
We are enclosing two documents
1) Report about the IBRO Retreat 2005
2) Questionnaire about CERI's ativities
Both documents will be sent to the CLAE-CERI members once we receive your comments.
In order to facilitate the work of the Executive we would like to start using an on-line discussion board – part of the CERI Web Gateway. Your ID and password, together with brief instructions, will sent by separate e-mail.
Thank you for your help and cooperation.
REPORT
Dear colleagues,
Some fifty members of CLAE-CERI gathered in Chateau Cartier, Aylmer, QC (September 23 - 25, 2005) for rollicking CLAE-CERI Retreat 2005. This was the 5th Scientific Meeting of the network where selected topics in epilepsy were discussed - largely part of the CLAE-CERI Themes & Teams efforts initiated at the 2nd CLAE-CERI Meeting in Montreal, 2001. The final program is listed here.
This meeting was supported by a CIHR Knowledge Translation Grant (applied for successfully by Mike Poulter).
Each topic included lively discussion that extended to the social hours of the meeting thanks to the friendly ambience of the Chateau.
General consensus of all participants was that it is crucial to advance the network towards achieving the basic goals and raison-d’être of the network – advance epilepsy research and practice in Canada.
The meeting confirmed that the Themes & Teams (T&T) are a useful vehicle for advancement but also established that only very few collaborations have followed the T&T line; too few grants have been applied to or are planned in the near future (Co-morbidity of epilepsy; Knowledge Translation grant based on Epilepsy, others?). Warren Blume’s conference on intractable epilepsy was another very successful outcome of a theme which resulted in major book published in the Advances in Neurology series.
The question is therefore how to move the agenda? Clearly, it is up to the T&Ts to follow the initial identification of members and topics of interest. These efforts can be facilitated via the CERI website and the information technology created for this purpose. Team Animators should contact ALP for help.
Based on the attendees wishes, our next meeting will be in Toronto or Montreal (we need to decide ASAP) and will be based both on presentations of selected topics in addition to T&T presentations.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Your answers to the following questions will help decide our future steps:
About networking
1) What themes would you like to develop or participate in?
If you have a preferred theme, then please start networking now via any communications tool you prefer (email, phone and the CERI website – Discussion Group set up for each of the identified Theme & Teams).
2) What collaborative funding would you like to develop or participate in? Have you checked any of the recent RFAs?
If you have an idea, then please start networking to develop the funding opportunity – and please let us know. This activity is key to our/your success.
About the next CLAE-CERI meeting
3) What do you consider should be the main goals of the next CERI meeting?
4) Where would you like to have the next meeting take place; Toronto or Montreal?
5) Is the end of Sept. 2006 a reasonable time? We suggest the weekends of Sept. 15-17 or Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Any other date?
6) What structure/format would you suggest for this meeting (e.g. open theme discussions, roundtables, case presentations, debates, formal lectures, courses, etc.)?
Please keep the CERI community informed about your activities in the epilepsy area by sending a description to ante.padjen@mcgill.ca
Thank you for your cooperation,
plc, alp, mop,
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