Welcome letter from the International Organising Committee

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the organising committee, we wish to invite you to attend the ILAE’s 10th European Congress on Epileptology (ECE), in London on September 30th - October 4th 2012. The ECE as a congress has grown in stature in recent years, and the London 2012 congress has all the ingredients of a landmark event in the epilepsy calendar. The programme will cover cutting-edge research in the field of epilepsy through presentations from the leaders in the field, including lectures by world-renowned scientists on topics at the interfaces of epilepsy.

The year 2012 is the centenary of the introduction of phenobarbital for the treatment of epilepsy, and the congress will strongly focus on drug therapy. The schedule will also feature a coordinated clinical teaching programme designed to inform and improve specialist clinical practice. Four main themes run through the programme: basic and translational science; neuroimaging and surgery; clinical epileptology and neuropsychiatry; and clinical pharmacology and drug therapy. In all themes, paediatric issues will be considered alongside those of adult epileptology. Parallel sessions in these and other topics will be held. There will be a strong emphasis on high quality poster presentations, and we invite you all to prepare your work for abstract submission in the coming months.

This promises to be an exceptional congress. London is one of the world’s great cities and the congress follows shortly after the 2012 Olympic Games, with the Olympic stadium near the congress centre. There will be an Olympic feel, and we plan a number of Olympic style events. The congress, like the Olympic Games and like London itself, aims to inspire, and will be a venue where you can enjoy and learn. We look forward to welcoming you there.

With warm regards,

Professor Phil Smith	Professor Meir Bialer
Chair	Chair
International Organising Committee	International Organising Committee