What to Expect From the 2022 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting

The 2022 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting is set to kick off on Saturday, April 2, with a long list of sessions and talks awaiting the in-person attendees in Seattle, Washington, along with the virtual audience at home. It will carry the theme of “the Great Neuro-Reunion.”

This year’s annual meeting is expected to offer several learning formats across the breadth of neurological subspecialties and includes opportunities for networking and CME. This year the AAN is approaching the hybrid model of scientific congress with a unique dual-format: an in-person portion of the meeting running from April 2-7, 2022, followed by an exclusive virtual component in the weeks to follow, from April 24-26. All told, the meeting will feature 9 days of scientific presentations.¹

In total, there will be 11 plenary sessions—7 taking place in Seattle and 4 virtually—as well as more than 200 courses featuring live question-and-answer sessions with the presenters. Of the latter, the in-person component will include more than 160 whereas the virtual portion will feature upward of 40. Additionally, there will be a total of 2400 abstract presentations across the formats.

“I hope that the year 2022 is kinder to all of us and I hope that we all find, in abundance, what we’ve been missing. In my case, seeing you all in person. In fact, much of the upcoming year has a theme of hope for so many of us, so my greatest hope is that you’re all gearing up for the great neuro-reunion in Seattle at the annual AAN meeting,” Natalia S. Rost, MD, chair of the AAN Science Committee, as well as chief of the stroke division and associate director of the MGH Comprehensive Stroke Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a professor at Harvard Medical School, said in early March.²

“I’m especially excited about more than 2400 original abstracts that we will present in Seattle, most of them in-person, at the traditional scientific platform sessions and the new and improved poster hall,” Rost continued. “Since our last in-person meeting, I missed browsing our poster neighborhoods, and as you well know, there isn’t a better opportunity for scientific exchange at every level—whether you’re a trainee or an experienced investigator. Original science is the lifeblood of the scientific program.”

READ MORE: NeurologyLive®’s Coverage of the AAN Annual Meeting

Rost said in that statement that she was “thrilled that we are going to have another great year of AAN science,” adding, “We have a terrific lineup of plenary talks, innovative neuroscience in the clinic sessions, invited science, and an impressive array of scientific awards to show off.”

Each day features at least 1 plenary session on a given topic, with a variety of focuses. On the opening day of the annual meeting, Amy R. Brooks-Kayal, MD, FAAN, and Martinson K. Arnan, MD, FAAN, lead a plenary session focused solely on the most recent controversies to grip the neurology community. Each portion of the session features 2 experts engaging in scholarly debate, each advocating for one side, followed by a rebuttal. Beginning at 9:15 AM PDT, the session will feature talks on the evaluation and treatment of patients with single unprovoked seizures, with Anteneh Mekonnen Feyissa, MD, MSc, FAAN, and Gregory D. Cascino, MD, FAAN; on the making the decision to prescribe aducanumab (Aduhelm; Biogen) to patients with Alzheimer disease, with David S. Knopman, MD, FAAN, and Alireza Atri, MD, PhD; and on restarting anticoagulation for prevention of secondary stroke post cerebral hemorrhage in patients with atrial fibrillation, with Edip M. Gurol, MD, and Kevin N. Sheth, MD, FAAN.

That will be followed in the evening by a hot topics plenary session starting at 5:00 PM PDT that will feature the following talks:

• Therapeutically Targeting Senescent Cells to Treat Age-related Diseases (5:00-5:17 PM PDT)
  • Miranda E. Orr, PhD
• Viruses and Neurological Autoimmunity (5:17-5:34 PM PDT)
  • Michael R. Wilson, MD, FAAN
• Glymphatic System Dysfunction: A Unifying Feature in Neurodegeneration (5:34-5:51 PM PDT)
  • Humberto Mestre, MD, PhD

On the second day of the meeting, Sunday, April 3, the presidential plenary session will kick off the morning’s activities at 9:15 AM PDT with the Presidential Lecture, “Post-COVID Challenges to Scientific Research,” from Brenda Banwell, MD, FAAN; Nina F. Schor, MD, PhD, FAAN; and Merit E. Cudkowicz, MD, MSC. This will be followed by 3 award lectures: the George C. Cotzias Lecture, “Harnessing the Brain’s Molecular Architecture to Develop New Therapeutics for Neurologic and Psychiatric Disorders,” from Daniel H. Geschwind, MD, PhD; the Sidney Carter Award in Child Neurology, “Vascular Pediatrics,” from Catherine M. Amlie-Lefond, MD, FAAN; and the Robert Wartenberg Lecture, “Leaving No One Behind: Charting the Course to Cerebrovascular Health Equity,” from Bruce I. Ovbiagele, MD, MSc, FAAN.

The following days will feature sessions on contemporary clinical issues (Monday, April 4)— which will highlight the most critical issues for practicing neurologists, including new therapeutics, clinical applications of basic and translational research, and other innovations—clinical trials (Tuesday, April 5)—during which updates from several clinical trials conducted over the course of the last year will be presented—frontiers in neuroscience (Wednesday, April 6)—featuring 6 speakers who will summarize recent research finding and speak to clinical implications—before concluding with the neurology year in review session (Thursday, April 7). The year in review session will explore the past year’s research, specifically highlighting some of the most relevant strides.

Those presentations include:

• Post Cardiac Arrest Interventions for Coma (9:15-9:20 AM PDT)
  • Romergryko G. Geocadin, MD, FAAN
• Advances in Neuro-oncology (9:20-9:40 AM PDT)
  • Priya U. Kumthekar, MD
• COVID-19, Immunity, and Vaccines (9:40-10:00 AM PDT)
  • Claire Riley, MD
• Emerging Therapeutics for Rare Pediatric Genetic Disorders (10:00-10:20 AM PDT)
  • Lisa T. Emrick, MD
• Disparities in Stroke Care Delivery (10:20-10:40 AM PDT)
  • Adam De Havenon, MD
• Evolving Indications for Deep Brain Stimulation (10:40-11:00 AM PDT)
  • Jill L. Ostrem, MD, FAAN

Of course, the NeurologyLive^® team will be on-site in Seattle for the annual meeting, providing coverage of the conversations happening, straight from the floor. You can expect to see video interviews and question-and-answer interviews with expert clinicians on a variety of neurology topics, as well as written coverage of plenary talks and data presentations throughout the week.

As the meeting’s format will extend these conversations throughout the month of April, our coverage will extend far beyond just the in-person session. Be sure to check back regularly to see the latest.

Interested in speaking with NeurologyLive^® about your presentation or a topic of interest? Reach out to managing editor Matt Hoffman here: mhoffman@neurologylive.com.

REFERENCES
1. AAN Annual Meeting Program. AAN website. https://www.aan.com/MSA/Public/Events/Index/38. Updated 2022. Accessed March 30, 2022.
2. @AANMember. Annual Meeting abstracts are now available! View this message from @nsanar, chair of the AAN Science Committee, and then check out the 2,400+ innovative discoveries that will be presented at #AANAM. https://bit.ly/3pwjLC4 #AANscience #Neurology. https://twitter.com/AANMember/status/1499491159525187589?s=20&t=b4K68CRPAAe1lxGQblj_ag. March 3, 2022. Accessed March 29, 2022.