We are well into our planning for the International Stroke Conference 2006, which is Feb. 16–18, 2006, at the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Fla.  On behalf of the American Stroke Association, a Division of the American Heart Association and the Stroke Council Program Committee, we cordially welcome you to attend.  The conference highlights our multi-year goal to reduce the risk of stroke by 25 percent before the year 2010.  The scientific and clinical content presented at this conference provides the basis for the American Stroke Association’s ongoing professional education programs.  The Program emphasizes basic and translational sciences as they evolve towards a more complete understanding of stroke pathophysiology as a foundation for developing more effective prevention and treatments.

The International Stroke Conference provides unique opportunities to meet with colleagues from around the world with wide-ranging research interests and expertise in stroke prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.  We anticipate more than 3,500 attendees as well as exhibitors displaying new stroke products and services.  The Program offers a pre-conference symposium, oral presentations, and posters as well as special lectures focusing especially on recent advances and state-of-the-art technologies.

For the fifth year, the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing has planned another extraordinary pre-conference symposium.  The State-of-the-Art Stroke Nursing Symposium will be held Feb. 15, 2006, at the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Fla.  The program will include case presentations, invited speakers and oral abstracts focused on ischemic stroke management, hemorrhagic stroke, rehabilitation and best practices/stroke program development.

The International Stroke Conference will feature special symposia focused on a number of topics, including latest developments on ischemic stroke genetics, mother and child: stroke in the puerperium, impact of vascular cognitive impairment on stroke trials, CT angiography and decision making in the emergency department, post stroke epilepsy, post stroke depression, novel restorative and rehabilitative approaches for stroke, new strategies for neuroprotection, stroke and endothelial dysfunction, vasculoprotection, and more.

On Thursday and Friday the program committee has planned Plenary sessions entitled “The Asymptomatic Vascular Lesion and Prevention of Stroke: When to Diagnose and When to Treat in 2006” and “New Frontiers in Cell and Trophic Factor Therapies.” In addition, the Plenary Sessions will highlight the Willis and Feinberg Award winners for 2006.

Once again, we are excited to welcome the attendees of the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section and the American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology conference.  They will join us on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for special programming focusing on evidence based approaches for the management of aneurysms, arterovenous malformations, carotid lesions, intracranial atheroma and more.

New this year is a series of presentations addressing practical topics of interest to the entire stroke team. This track is scheduled for Thursday morning and will be directed at neurologist, nurses, physical therapist, speech therapist, rehabilitation professionals, dietitians and occupational therapist.

Join us in Kissimmee for the International Stroke Conference 2006.  For the most current conference information, visit the Web site at strokeconference.org.

Sincerely,