We’re just over two months away from the biggest annual event in Portuguese neurosurgery: the 31st SPNC Congress.

We have tried to compose a scientific program that is motivating and provocative, encouraging debate around controversies in the various areas of Neurosurgery. The main topics to be covered can be found at http://congressospnc2015.admeus.net.

As promised in the message introducing the congress, we will have some new features, demonstrating the will of the Organizing Committee that accompanies me to leave its mark on this program. One of these will be the inclusion of a pre-congress course on “Deep Brain Stimulation” on Thursday morning. For logistical reasons, the number of participants will have to be limited, so we encourage you to register for the congress as soon as possible, indicating whether you want to take part in this course, in order to guarantee a place.

A highlight of the scientific program will be the lecture by Prof. Alexandre Quintanilha, president of the Management and Guidance Council of the I3S consortium (Institute for Research and Innovation in Health) on the subject of “Current biomedical controversies – the impact of molecular and cellular bioengineering”. I would also like to highlight the lectures by the president of the Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery on “Technical controversies in the surgical treatment of alterations in the cranio-cervical junction” and by the president of the SPNC, with a reflection on “Portuguese Neurosurgery – from the past to the present”. In line with the motto that the president of the SPNC chose for his conference, another purpose we set ourselves was to try to attract to this congress masters and leaders of Portuguese neurosurgery who preceded us and walked the path that led us to where we are today.

We are looking forward to this exchange of experiences, which will certainly be very enriching. But the success of the congress will depend on the committed participation of each and every one of us. For this reason, we once again encourage everyone to collaborate by submitting proposals for the presentation of papers and surgical videos, which are a demonstration of the quality and vitality of our services and of Portuguese neurosurgery. We remind you that the deadline is March 31 and that abstracts must be structured and demonstrate the results so that the scientific committee can evaluate them properly.

You can find more information on the congress website. See you soon!