Dear Colleagues,

After the great success of the 36th Annual Meeting at the magnificent Waterfront location in Cape Town, South Africa, the 37th Annual Meeting in the quiet and beautiful setting of Pasadena of California, USA is almost upon us. From October 11-15, 2009 Dr. Gordon McComb will be our host for the annual academic meeting and most importantly, the annual reunion of the international pediatric neurosurgery family. Dr. McComb will be a great host and we all look forward to flying there for the meeting, like migratory birds from all corners of the world and also to enjoying the sincere friendship of our colleagues.

My term of office began in October 2008 and I am happy to announce that the new identity and website of ISPN will be launched at the 37th annual meeting at Pasadena. The website is proposed by our respected Immediate Past President, Dr. Rick Abbott and has been executed by Dr. William Harkness, our new Chairman of Communication. This ‘rebranding’ of our Society follows the sentiments expressed in Rick’s Presidential address and will include a new logo as well as the new website. We look forward seeing our new logo for the first time and also to explore the website which we hope will become an improved platform for administration, communication and education.

It was with great sadness that we all heard of the death of our elegant mentor and Past President, Dr. Anthony David Hockley, who sadly passed away on June 21, 2009. He was a man that we all respected greatly and he will be a sad loss to the big family of pediatric neurosurgery.

Dr. Saffet Mutluer of Izmir, our kind host of the 28th Annual Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, will be our new President of ISPN in the 37th Annual Meeting. We shall congratulate him and bless him for a great term of office and the contribution that he will surely make to the ISPN.

Best wishes to all of you,

Tai-Tong Wong