Seattle - 2006

White Matter Study Group Annual General Meeting Minutes 7:30pm May 10th, 2006 Room 602-604, Washington State Convention and Trade Center Seattle, USA
Board Members in Attendance: Greg Stanisz, Charles Guttman, Roland Henry, Corree Laule, Victor Song, Egill Rostrop
Total number of voting members present: 22 (Quorum reached)
Total number non-voting members present: 24
Meeting was called to order at 7:35pm
Procedural Items
Approval of minutes from May 9th, 2005
Moved/Second: Charles Guttman / Alex MacKay Motion carried.
Items resulting from the previous minutes
No items were brought to the attention of the executive.

2.0 Workshop/Study Group Review Committee      Joe McGowan
Brief summary provided from workshop/ study group review committee meeting. Problems with workshop planning were identified in that only sponsored meetings are treated well by the society The study group committee has addressed sponsorship vs. endorsement of workshops for the past few years. The White Matter Disease study group has extensive experience with both types of conferences There are significant advantages and disadvantages associated with each type in the areas of convenience, promotion, and speaker reimbursement The Premise-Both types of conferences are recognized in the governance documents of the ISMRM. They both have their role and both should be viable. Endorsed conferences do not threaten the society but rather enhance it.
3 Motions were brought forth by Joe to the workshop/study group review committee:
The approval process for proposed workshops by study groups will include and be limited to: Scientific approval- identical for all workshops Financial/Administrative approval- for sponsored workshops only
Approved endorsed workshops organized by study groups will be promoted and listed on the ISMRM web site as exactly that.
There will be no stated or effective preference for either the sponsorship or endorsement option on the part of the ISMRM apart from anything enacted into bylaws.
Motion 2 was passed by the workshop/study group review committee.

3.0 Farewell to outgoing board members     Greg Stanisz
A heartfelt thank you to all outgoing committee members (Joe McGowan, Peter van Zijl, Frederik Barkhof, Douglas Arnold, Joseph Frank and Mark van Buchem).

4.0 Presentation of new governing committee     Greg Stanisz
Welcome to the new governing committee members:
Greg Stanisz, PhD - Chair (CANADA)
Charles Guttman, MD - Program Director (USA)
Corree Laule, PhD - Secretary (CANADA)
Roland Henry, PhD - Committee member (USA)
Victor Song, PhD - Committee member (USA)
Egill Rostrup, MD - Committee member (DENMARK)
Joe McGowan, PhD - Past Chair (USA)

5.0 Update on Membership     Greg Stanisz
We currently have 187 members. The membership category breakdown is as follows:
Full: 87
Student: 95
Technologist: 5
Associate: 2
Emeritus: 1

The membership nationality breakdown is as follows:
Australia 3    Japan 3
Austria 2    Netherlands 10
Belgium 3    Norway 1
Canada 23    Poland 1
China 2    Romania 1
Denmark 8    Russia 1
England 5    Scotland 1
UK 7    Singapore 1
France 3    Spain 1
Germany 3    Sweden 4
India 3    Switzerland 4
Ireland 1    Taiwan 7
Israel 1    USA 84
Italy 4    

7.0 Imaging Myelin: Formation, Destruction and Repair Workshop Report     Alex MacKay
119 attendees (37% MR technique, 27% clinical, 24% basic science, 12% pharmaceutical) Gratefully acknowledge the extensive sponsorship (Myelin Gold: Berlex, Biogen, Centocor, Roche, Serono Canada, Teva; Myelin Silver: BioMS, MS Society of Canada, Novartis, Serono International; Myelin Bronze: ICORD, Philips Canada, Vancouver Coastal Health; Myelin: Bruker)
Day 1: Background on myelin structure, development and pathology Overview of myelin biology (Bruce Trapp, Ian Griffiths, Ian Duncan) Clinical aspects of myelination (David Miller, Frederik Barkhof, Marjo van der Knapp, Steve Goldman) Discussion about fundamental questions in myelin & myelination (Douglas Arnold, Sam Ludwin)
Day 2: In vivo marker of myelin Magnetization transfer (Joe McGowan, Paul Tofts) Diffusion (Christian Beaulieu, Victor Song) Spectroscopy (Pan Narayana, Douglas Arnold) T2 relaxation (Corree Laule, Mark Does) Modeling (Greg Stanisz) Lively discussion (Peter van Zijl, Bruce Pike)
Day 3: The effect of myelination, dysmyelination and demyelination beyond white matter and therapeutic strategies for remyelination and neurorepair. White matter disease and cognition, dementia, cortical reorganisation (Christopher Filley, Franz Fazekas, Heidi Johansen-Berg) Spine studies (Lars Olsen, Federica Agosta) Strategies for remyelination and repair (Alastair Compston, Stephan Karlik, Jeff Bulte)
Poster Session winners: Dan Gochberg (Vanderbilt), Craig Jones (Kennedy Krieger), Donna Lang (UBC), Peder Larsson (Stanford), Burkhard Maedler (UBC)
for more information see www.myelinimaging.org

8.0 The Future of the White Matter Study Group     Roland Henry
What is the scope of the white matter study group? Aging & normal development MS (historical reasons) Other WM diseases (Trauma, Stroke) Traditional GM diseases (ALS, dementia) Outside of the brain ( Spinal cord, PNS)
What is the approach of the white matter study group? Methodologies include T2, T1, t1rho, MTR, DTI, Volumetry, MRSI, cell labeling
What are the goals of the white matter study group? Study degeneration/regeneration? Is MR a more sensitive tool for detecting disease? Does MR relate to pathology and clinical function? Is MR an improved endpoint for genetic studies?

9.0 White Matter Study Group Function Charles Guttman
In the past there have been 2 main emphasizes of the study group: annual meeting and workshop meeting. How do we want the future to look? Annual meeting, workshop meeting, and ….?
Historically, the emphasis was to look for surrogate markers of clinical outcome. Now we are moving more towards the pathological underpinnings and reflections of pathology related to genetics, immunology, etc.
Functions of the study group and how to accomplish them: To stimulate scientific discussion - interactive WIKI website (www.wmsg.org) To foster collaborative work - member initiated project cooperatives To share tools - free software downloads / open source development To enable a multidisciplinary forum - Expand study activities to other professional societies To provide educational programs To enhance student participation and impact - Autonomous Student Group with representation on board, Mentored Implementation of SG Initiatives, Small pilot grants program with annual review at meeting To provide a skills and job market - Jobs Board on the WIKI
Motion to submit for an education session at the next ISMRM (Barcelona, 2007) Motion/Second: Charles Guttman / Fred Barkhof Motion carried.
Motion to change the study groups official name to “White Matter Study Group” Motion carried.
Motion to invite a student voting representative to the committee that will be elected by the student members Motion carried.
Motion for the WMSG to cover the annual fee for the student representative. Motion carried.
Motion that the student representative will be elected for a term of 1 year. Motion carried.

10.0 Future WMSG Meeting     Charles Guttman
Next workshop will be in 2008 (location & date to be determined) Please get in touch with us if you wish to host the next meeting!
Motion for the membership to support that every workshop has to be approved using the same identical approval methods with same criteria. Motion carried.
Motion for the membership to support that there will be no stated or effective preference for either the sponsorship or endorsement option on the part of the ISMRM apart from anything enacted into bylaws. Motion carried.

Motion for the WMSG to present an award for the best student presentation at every annual ISMRM Motion carried.

11.0 Adjournment
Motion to adjourn.
Moved/Second: Corree Laule / Wilburn Reddick
Meeting adjourned at 8:55pm
Next meeting: May 2007, Barcelona