Dear ASNM Members:

As I write this, a number of our ASNM members had likely planned to be in Chicago and attending the International Society of Intraoperative Neurophysiology (ISIN) Congress this week.  Sadly, but understandably, that meeting had to be postponed for health and safety concerns with the ongoing and again worsening pandemic.  ASNM was excited for that meeting in part because we were going to be co-hosting a portion of the meeting as a component of our ongoing efforts at increasing collaboration with peer medical societies!  We appreciate the collaboration with ISIN and will look forward to the next ISIN Congress in the United States.
 
After another successful ASNM election, with so many excellent candidates willing to serve our society’s mission, it is a good time to highlight our committees.  It is within these committees where much of the work of ASNM is initiated, advanced, and achieved to help meet the society’s goals on behalf of our membership.  These committees are also the place where more members can make direct contributions to ASNM and our shared mission. All committees are listed on the ASNM website under “Member Center” with a brief description and the committee chair.  After reviewing the committee information, if you are interested in serving and being more actively involved with your professional society, please contact ASNM!  Congratulations, too, to the newly elected Board Members, some who are dedicated returning members and some who are welcome new members!  I look forward to working with you all for ASNM, and thank you to all the candidates.
 
The ASNM website, as you likely now know, has been updated.  Thank you to Cayla and the Affinity team who have spent a lot of time on this update, but the website is now more modern and serviced by a trusted and more economical Affinity partner.  From a recent society “health check” (pre-website update), I learned that, thanks to our engaged members, the open rate for email communications from ASNM and “click through” rate are both well above average for non-profit organizations!  This is evidence that a modernized website will be crucial for member needs.  I find the new website very easy to navigate for obtaining education offerings and other information already, but navigating further reveals a few areas that are still unfinished (but not for long!), such as the advocacy and patient information areas. These have current content ready to be added.  Please excuse the construction for a little longer. 
 
With our first anticipated in-person annual meeting since 2019, and numerous other virtual educational opportunities throughout the year, don’t forget your membership renewal before January 1^st.  Renewal is fast and easy through the website, but please contact us if you have questions.  Finally, thanks to the efforts of the membership committee and its Chair, Dr. Faisal Jahangiri, ASNM will be offering membership price tiers for international members per the World Bank Economies Classifications, to make our membership more accessible and fair for all.

As we are now into nearly mid-December, I hope you have time to enjoy the holiday season and have some free time during which to safely enjoy the company of friends and family. 

Happy Holidays and Warmest Regards,

Laura Hemmer, M.D., FASA
ASNM President

Dear ASNM Members:

Dear ASNM Members:

Heading into fall, we have several ASNM activities in which to look forward.  Please join us for the soon approaching Fall Virtual Symposium.  Board Members and Meeting Co-Program Chairs Clare Gale and Justin Silverstein sought speakers able to highlight “Pearls and Gems for Real World IONM Application”, and this is sure to be an expert-filled discussion of practical knowledge and nuance for IONM challenges.  I am also excited about the upcoming Webinar by Dr. Emery Brown, “The Dynamics of Anesthesia Induced Unconsciousness”.  Dr. Brown is an anesthesiologist and neuroscientist, and in the anesthesiology world and beyond, he is absolutely a “superstar”.  His research work has focused on development of statistical methods and signal-processing algorithms for neuroscience data analysis and his pioneering work has led to insight into how anesthetics produce unconsciousness.  I have been fortunate to hear him speak on multiple occasions, and he will surely meet the high standard set by ASNM’s Webinar speakers!  Thank you, once again to Patty Warf and the Webinar Subcommittee for coordinating such expert speakers on varied topics pertinent to IONM.

The ASNM Diversity Taskforce launched a Diversity and Inclusion survey this summer for members and results will be reviewed this fall.  If you have not yet completed the survey, please do so—it only takes a few minutes and input from many members will be most valuable. Click here to take the survey. Work in the busy Representation and Advocacy Committee, as outlined in my last update, continues to progress well.  Thank you to all the committee members dedicating time and experience to ASNM efforts.

As we head into cooler days, unfortunately most of us are facing, once again, challenges due to surging COVID rates.  Many of us may feel tremendous frustration that this surge could have been avoided, yet healthcare workers have continued to provide excellent care in the United States throughout this pandemic.  Thank you to all our members working throughout the evolving pandemic while perhaps also managing myriad challenges and worries at home.  Healthcare professionals of all disciplines deserve tremendous thanks for their patient care contributions throughout the pandemic.

As always, please feel free to contact me to send me your thoughts for ASNM. 

Kind Regards,

Laura Hemmer, M.D., FASA
ASNM President

Dear Members:

I am delighted to announce that we started this year with another successful Virtual Meeting! This was a truly fantastic program put together by Dr. Christopher Pace and Dr. Marat Avshalumov. Special thanks to the education committee for their input and support and amazing work by Cayla Marconi, Executive Director, and Affinity Strategies team members. The ASNM Winter Virtual Symposium brought in 238 attendees, 13 of those being international, and seven amazing sponsors.

We look forward to more virtual Meetings this year and hope you continue to attend these conferences! This year our annual meeting and fall meetings will be held virtually in May and Sep 2021, respectively. With the collaboration of my co-chairs Dr. Tara Stewart and Dr. Cheryl Wiggins, we have finalized another unique educational program for our members and anyone who would like to attend and learn more about IONM. The theme of our 2021 Annual meeting is ‘Neuromonitoring-Diving Deep.’ We will have three simulation labs, a D.ABNM review course, and nine different IONM sessions over three days. (Disclaimer: The ASNM in no way endorses the products being used for these workshops. This is strictly used for educational content for the ASNM Annual Meeting). There will be live questions and answers sessions with panel discussions with an excellent opportunity for you to get involved and ask questions to our national and international speakers. This year ASNM is offering first time a session ‘IONM Around the Globe’. We will have speakers and panelists around the world participating in that session. We have a discount rate for registration that will expire on May 03, 2021. We also have a special Student rate for our student members, residents, and fellows for the annual Meeting.

Dear Members, 

Happy New Year. We are starting a new year with a global COVID-19 surge and have to remain isolated from friends and family. Thank you to all those who are working on the frontline and giving care to patients every day with danger to yourself and your families. In 2020, even though we could not meet in person, we were able to accomplish a lot, from philanthropy to transfer of knowledge to advocacy, research, and so much more.
 
During last year we accomplished a very successful first virtual winter meeting. We had excellent speakers who presented on various IONM related topics. In May, we canceled our Annual in-person meeting and instead had our first town hall meeting on Motor Evoked Potentials (MEP). With over 240 attendees, we received excellent feedback. We are planning to have more town hall meetings in the future. ASNM offered CNIM concepts mini-course and will offer it again this year. In fall, we had our first joint ASNM/ CANM joint meeting as a virtual Fall Symposium. We had an excellent program with 208 attendees from 10 different countries across the globe.  Dr. Christopher Pace and Dr. Marat Avshalumov have finalized an excellent 2021 Winter Symposium with the theme "IONM: From Theory to Everyday Practice - Focus on Case Studies". Please visit the ASNM website for the program agenda and registration details. Many thanks to the program chairs for extraordinary meetings. 

 
On the education and research front, I created ASNM Clinical Effectiveness Ad-hoc Sub-committee, which is co-chaired by Megan Alcauskas and Ryan Rosenhahn. This subcommittee is working on the value and medical necessity of IONM in lumbar surgeries. We are looking forward to this committee's proposals and recommendations during our next board of directors meeting in May 2021. I want to thank all the subcommittee members and advisors for their time, efforts, and dedication to the ASNM and IONM.
 
To fulfill the need for a subcommittee, to focus on education and awareness about IONM on the ASNM website and various social media platforms, I created ASNM Social Media Ad-Hoc Sub-committee. I want to thank all the subcommittee members and advisors for their time, efforts, and dedication to the ASNM and IONM.
 
ASNM Webinar committee organized extremely informative webinars and invited speakers with expertise in our field to address various IONM topics throughout the pandemic. ASNM launched four new award categories for its members. Please visit the ASNM website for more information and the nomination process for the 2021 awards.
 
ASNM elections were held in the fall. We have four new board members (Rebecca Clark-Bash, Melisa Kirkup, Michael Riley, and Dr. Lawrence Wierzbowski) and President-Elect (Dr. W. Bryan Wilent). The term for all winners will begin after the May 2021 Annual Meeting. My sincere thanks to everyone who was on the ballot. We hope you will continue to support ASNM and will participate again in future elections.
 
My gratitude to the executive committee, board of directors, committee/subcommittee chairs, all members, attendees, Affinity-Strategies, and sponsors for their continued support of the ASNM for making 2020 a successful year. We have lined up excellent educational programs in 2021 (winter symposium, annual meeting, fall symposium). We are looking forward to increasing our membership and meet you all in person soon.
 
Thank you, and best wishes for 2021.
 
Stay safe!