Keynote Speakers
| PRE-CONGRESS WORKSHOPS | |
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Linda Littlejohns |
| Neuro Assessment – Workshops 1&4 | |
| Linda Littlejohns RN MSN CCRN CNRN, Vice President of Clinical Development at Integra NeuroSciences and President of the Integra Foundation, is a neuroscience clinical nurse specialist. Linda lectures worldwide on topics related to the management of the neuroscience patient population and has published in numerous professional texts and journals. She was the co-editor of the 4th Edition of the Core Curriculum for Neuroscience Nursing; the newly released Protocols for Practice: Monitoring Technologies in Critically Ill Neuroscience Patients; and is a contributing neuro editor for the Mosby Medical, Nursing and Health Sciences Dictionary. Linda started her nursing career in Johannesburg, South Africa and received her BSN and MSN from California State University after relocating to the USA in 1981. | |
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Aleksandra Bjelajac Mejia |
| Applied Pharmacology – Workshop 2 | |
| Aleksandra Bjelajac Mejia received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Northeastern University in Boston in 1992 and then went on to receive her Doctor of Pharmacy degree and Post PharmD Residency in Ambulatory Care from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1994 and 1995. She came to Toronto in 1995 and since then has been actively involved with the Faculty of Pharmacy, both in the PharmD and BSc Programs. Aleksandra has been a member of the pharmacy team at Sick Kids since 1995 and now holds the position of Education/Residency Coordinator and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Neurology. Her primary area of practice is in participating in the care of children with epilepsy. |
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Peter Hagell |
| Movement Disorders – Workshop 3 | |
| Dr Hagell is a registered nurse who has been working in the clinical neurosciences for about 20 years, particularly focusing on PD and related disorders. He currently holds a position as Associate Professor at the Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate nursing and physiotherapy students, and conducts research. His scientific interests are primarily focused on measuring and understanding disease impact and therapy outcomes in PD and other neurological disorders, particularly in terms of patient-reported outcomes. |
| CONGRESS SPEAKERS | |
| SUNDAY MAY 24 | |
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Christine Eberhardie |
| Historical Address | |
| As a Neuroscience nurse since 1968, Christine taught for over 20 years, and spent 25 of her 30 years in the Territorial Army as a neuroscience nursing officer. She acted as the Inaugural Chairman of the EANN, the WFNN Editor of Publications 1987-93 and Vice President 1993-97. She is the author of a book, chapters and articles and currently a member of the Editorial Board of the BJNN, undertaking a diploma in Local history at Oxford University to write the history of Atkinson Morley’s Hospital in London. She also volunteers as an oral historian with the Nurses Voices Project. Inspired by Agnes Marshall-Walker, its founder and its subsequent leaders, the WFNN is a recognised worldwide neuroscience professional organisation, only in existence since 1973, with its first international congress in Tokyo. In this illustrated presentation the history of the WFNN will be discussed in the context of world events as well as the inter-professional history of neuroscience practice. | |
| MONDAY MAY 25 | |
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Paul Van Keeken |
| Neuro Blend | |
| Paul Van Keeken has been in neuroscience nursing since 1980, first as a neuroscience clinical nurse specialist and later as manager of neurology/neurosurgery departments. In these roles he is able to combine both passions, nursing education and teaching. In 2003 he had the opportunity to set up a special education department called the Nijmegen Knowledge Centre Neurosciences, at the UMC Nijmegen, Department of Neurology 898, The Netherlands. Also in 2003, he became the President of the European Association of Neuroscience Nurses and in 2005, the Project Manager for the NeuroBlend Project. The results of this project offer a European framework for competence based blended learning based on an international profile of a neuroscience nurse, a European curriculum and a virtual learning environment. Through WFNN NeuroBlend has the potential to grow into a worldwide community of practice for neuroscience nurses, an inspiring international communication platform to share information and to learn. | |
| TUESDAY MAY 26 | |
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Dr Roberta Bondar |
| Neuro & Space | |
| Dr. Roberta Bondar launched from Earth in January 1992 aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery as the first neurologist in space and Canada's first woman astronaut. As a payload specialist she conducted advanced scientific experiments for fourteen nations. Back on Earth, Dr. Bondar is globally recognized for her contributions to space medicine. She continued her discoveries for more than a decade, finding connections between recovering from new environments and neurological illnesses such as stroke and Parkinson's disease. She has lead a team of researchers to better understand the mechanisms underlying the body's ability to recover from exposure to space. Dr. Bondar is moving beyond the laboratory to share what she has discovered about the brain and how we can adapt to unfamiliar environments. | |
