ANNUAL MEETING

2020 Neuroscience Symposium Report

Ines Koerner, MD
Chair of Research Committee
William Armstead, PhD
Chair, Program Planning Committee
Vice President for Education and Scientific Affairs

Ines Koerner, MD

William Armstead, PhD

The 3rd Annual SNACC Neuroscience Symposium “Perioperative Neuroscience” was originally scheduled to take place May 16, 2020 in San Francisco, concordant with the IARS/SOCCA/AUA meetings. As was the case for so many conferences this spring, the IARS/SOCCA/AUA meetings had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SNACC Board of Directors briefly considered canceling the Neuroscience Symposium as well but decided instead to hold the symposium as planned and move it to a virtual format. This was a first-ever experience for SNACC and it turned into a great success.

The meeting was slightly adapted to accommodate the new environment. In order to allow members to join from their homes in different time zones, we moved from the original time slot to one that spanned the early morning on the US west coast to the late afternoon in Europe and the late evening in Asia. We also shortened the meeting a bit, as we had to skip the wine and cheese bar that traditionally rounds out the evening at the symposium.

Consistent with the symposium's framing principles, this live event provided for a discussion-heavy exchange of research in progress from SNACC investigators.  Twelve invited scientists were able to attend the virtual symposium and present their work on a secure Zoom platform. Presenters covered a broad range of topics in neuroscience, including innovative devices, educational programs, mechanistic work in elegant animal models, and a variety of clinical and translational studies. 

Keith Vogt, MD

Donald Penning, MD

All presentations were very engaging and received dynamic questions from the audience, which included 54 attendees from eight different countries spanning the globe, including Colombia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Australia, in addition to Canada and the United States.  The feedback was valuable to presenters in framing their results and future directions of their work.  Audience members asked questions via the chat function. Research committee members Drs. Keith Vogt, Don Penning, and Bill Armstead expertly monitored the chat and facilitated a live discussion. Participants were able to continue the discussion with the presenters offline after the symposium by using the Ask the Speaker function in the Mobile Meeting Guide platform.

The symposium was offered free of charge to SNACC members. Pre-registration was required to ensure security on the Zoom platform. The virtual format expanded the reach of this symposium, as members could join even if they would not have been able to travel to the live meeting or join intermittently (some even joined during breaks in their call shift). Accordingly, attendance at the 2020 virtual Neuroscience Symposium was up by 50% above the 2019 in-person Neuroscience Symposium in Montreal. Despite the relatively large audience, the event was glitch-free from a technical standpoint, thanks in large part to outstanding support by the SNACC office.

The biggest challenge for the virtual format is the lack of opportunity for informal interactions and the absence of in-person networking. Some of this may be countered in future virtual meetings by more deliberate use of virtual calling cards and small group chat rooms. Despite these limitations, we expect the highly successful first-ever virtual Neuroscience Symposium to establish a firm foundation for future virtual SNACC meetings, as circumstances dictate.

The screenshot below shows some of the participants, enjoying the scientific exchange from the comfort of their home offices. Feedback from participants included the following comments:

“Definitely great! Miss the free cookies but that's about it.”
“Loved learning so many new and exciting things!”
“Great job, SNACC. Way to pivot quickly in challenging times.”
“Each session was on time and there was good interactive experience – things we care most for.”
“I enjoyed much more than I thought.”
“For me, the most important part was that everything felt very natural and flowing spontaneously – actually very close to the real experience.”
“I think the interaction is key!”
“This was a great symposium, and I really appreciated the online format.  I would not have been able to attend in person.”