Document download: World Neurology - March-April 2026

Published by Ascend Integrated Media LLC, Kansas, USA

From the editors

Steven L. Lewis, MD, Editor, and Walter Struhal, MD, Co-Editor

I’d like to warmly welcome all neurologists — and anyone interested in neurology and brain health worldwide — to the March-April 2026 issue of World Neurology, the official newsletter of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN).

In my inaugural President's Column in the January February 2026 issue, I mentioned that the WFN is a federation of 126 neurological societies, advocating for neurologists and neurological care globally, with our long stated mission being: “To foster quality neurology and brain health worldwide, a goal we seek to achieve by promoting global neurological education and training, with the emphasis placed firmly on underresourced parts of the world.”

Each of the WFN’s member societies represents the backbone (and raison d’être) of our federation, and the critical local professional voice of neurologists and neurological care in their countries. The WFN would like to acknowledge the tremendous work each of these societies performs by initiating a “Member Society Spotlight” column in upcoming issues of World Neurology.

We will soon send invitations to the leadership of each of the 126 WFN member societies inviting them to submit an article highlighting their history, organization, ongoing work, and plans for the future. We hope this new and highly illustrative World Neurology feature will provide useful information about best practices and increase innovation and collaboration in our common goals for neurology, neurological access and care, and brain health nationally, regionally, and globally.

The WFN and its trustees are also pleased to introduce the logo for World Brain Day 2026 (See below.) This year’s event is chaired by Prof. Tissa Wijeratne and co-chaired by Prof. David Dodick. The event is devoted to “Brain Health: Access for All.” The 2026 World Brain Day will take place on July 22. Please check the WFN website and the next issue of World Neurology for the World Brain Day toolkit and additional information.

Mark your calendars for the WFN Digital Neurology Update course, which will be held virtually Oct. 28-29, 2026. This course will feature a series of broad, clinically relevant one-hour updates on a wide array of the major neurological subspecialties, presented by renowned experts from around the globe. The WFN Congress Committee is actively planning the next World Congress of Neurology (WCN) to be held Oct. 23-25, 2027, in Cape Town, South Africa. This outstanding scientific and clinical neurological event will bring thousands of neurologists together for the first WCN to be held in this vibrant African city. As I attend the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Multistakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation and the WHO's World Health Assembly (WHA) in May, I look forward to helping represent the neurological community in these global institutions. I want to thank Prof. Alla Guekht, past WFN trustee and the current president of the International League Against Epilepsy, who has been so helpful in mentoring and guiding me in these processes. I will provide updates on the WFN’s work in these important global venues for global brain health in the next issue of this newsletter.

In closing, I want to wish all neurologists the very best in their professional endeavors, whether in patient care, research, education, advocacy, or any capacity where we may optimize neurologic and overall brain health globally. We also all look forward to informative updates from our member societies in upcoming issues of World Neurology. ■

Highlights

President's Column

• WFN Member Societies at the Forefront ⧉
  By Prof. Steven L. Lewis

  I’d like to warmly welcome all neurologists — and anyone interested in neurology and brain health worldwide — to the March-April 2026 issue of World Neurology, the official newsletter of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN)...

Junior Travelling Fellowship

• Attending the WCN 2025 ⧉
  By Somya Singhal

  I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) for awarding me the 2025 Junior Traveling Fellowship (JTF), which enabled me to attend the World Congress of Neurology (WCN), Oct. 12-15, in Seoul, South Korea. I am deeply honored to have been selected for this prestigious fellowship. Attending WCN 2025 was an academically enriching and professionally rewarding experience...

Around the World

• First Central Asian Course on Neuroepidemiology ⧉
  By Pierre-Marie Preux and Carlos N. Ketzoian

  The First Central Asian Course on Neuroepidemiology in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, featured the theme of “Advancing Neuroepidemiology for a Healthier Central Asia.” This course was organized by the International Higher School of Medicine in Kyrgyzstan, the I.K. Akhunbaev Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, and the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) Specialty Group on Neuroepidemiology. The need for reliable data, modern research methods, and evidence-based approaches in neurology in Central Asia is especially pressing. This course brought together experts...

• The 158th Session of the WHO Executive Board ⧉
  By Ksenia Pochigaeva, Alla Guekht, and Steven Lewis

  The World Federation of Neurology (WFN) participated in the 158th session of the WHO Executive Board (EB158) as a nonstate actor in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting took place Feb. 2-7 in Geneva, Switzerland...

Book Review

• Struck Down by the Gods: Causes and Prevention of Stroke ⧉
  By Prof. Tissa Wijeratne

  Readers of World Neurology may remember “Cure for Neurophobia,”1 a game-changing book that helped many clinicians rethink how we teach and learn neurology. The same author, Peter Gates, has now delivered another gem. This time, the focus is stroke prevention. Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. We have long known that up to 90% of strokes are preventable, at least in theory. Yet prevention continues to fail at scale. This book asks a confronting question: Is there something fundamental we have been missing?...

WFN Training Center Report

• WFN Treasurer Awarded the Order of Ontario ⧉

  Prof. Morris Freedman, treasurer of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), has been named one of the 2025 recipients of the Order of Ontario. The Order of Ontario is the Canadian province’s highest civilian honor and recognizes those whose distinguished service and extraordinary achievements have helped build a stronger Ontario and Canada. Established in 1986, it is awarded to individuals from various fields who have made exceptional contributions to the province, Canada, or globally...

History

• A Brief History of Neurological Sciences ⧉
  By Antonio Federico

  Neuroscientists from Italy and around the world gathered for the 2026 International Conference on Neuro-Symbolic Systems (NeuS). The conference, which took place March 26-27 in Milan, Italy, was organized by Neurological Sciences, the journal of the Italian Neurological Society (SIN), and by the SIN itself, to stimulate international exchanges between Italian and foreign neuroscientists and promote the Neurological Sciences journal...

• The Homunculus: From Paracelsus to Penfield ⧉
  By Peter J. Koehler

  The German internist and Paracelsus biographer Dieter Kerner (1923 1981) wrote “Neither Paracelsus nor Goethe inaugurated the homunculus motif; rather, they represent stages in a long series of developments that continues to the present day.”1 Despite this, Paracelsus and his medical alchemy are usually referred to when we are looking for the origin of the term homunculus...