António Gonçalves Ferreira, Full Professor and Director of the University Clinic of Neurosurgery of the FMUL, was elected President of the European Association of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ESSFN) on September 28.
During the XXIII ESSFN Congress, which took place in Edinburgh from September 26 to 29 2018, the General Assembly of the ESSFN elected the officers for the 2018-2022 quadriennium: president; vice-president; 1st secretary and 2nd secretary, and treasurer. Professor Gonçalves Ferreira, who was already vice-president since 2014, was unanimously approved as president for the new quadriennium.
When asked about the importance of this election, Professor António Gonçalves Ferreira made a point of sharing his satisfaction with News@FMUL. “For me it’s very important, because it is a personal recognition, an honour, and a challenge to lead this society, which is the largest thematic society of Neurosurgery and the one that has grown the most; furthermore, the vice-president doesn’t necessarily become the next president; and it’s the first time that a Portuguese citizen holds such a position, moreover unanimously elected. The ESSFN unites many hundreds of neurosurgeons across Europe and the Middle East who engage in a wide variety of clinical areas: Movement Disorders (Parkinson’s, dystonias, tremors); Pain; Spasticity; Epilepsy; Psychosurgery; Radiosurgery, usually organised in multidisciplinary groups, as is the case with us. All these areas have been witnessing a great expansion, with an increasing number of surgeries. The ESSFN holds a European Congress every 4 years in different countries (in 2012 we organized it in Cascais with great success) and a number of other regular activities, namely “Hands-on Training Courses” (1-2 times a year) about the several areas of activity, in which I’ve been participating systematically as a lecturer. One of the upcoming courses is going to be held in Lisbon in September 2019, on Pain and Spasticity; there are plans to organise another ESSFN Course on Epilepsy Surgery here later on. These courses are highly prestigious and renowned, and highly sought after by interns and young specialists from all over Europe and beyond.
So, I will be ultimately responsible for all these events and I’ll be ESSFN’s official representative before official entities and similar societies including the World Society (WSSFN) with which we are affiliated, and also before the Industry, especially the medical device industry (for DBS, epilepsy, pain and spasticity surgery), our important suppliers and supporters. In addition, I will be coordinating the team of Officers that manages the ESSFN all year round, a task which requires leadership skills, good judgement, initiative and a great availability; as I said before, it is a real challenge, but I like challenges and life without challenges isn’t fun, even at this more mature stage of my professional, scientific and academic life”.

The ESSFN is the scientific society that brings together neurosurgeons who work in this field of neurosurgery, encompassing different areas, from surgery to treat movement diseases (Parkinson’s, dystonia, tremors) to pain, spasticity, epilepsy, and psychosurgery. It’s the largest sectoral society of neurosurgery and the one that has grown the most in recent years. It was founded in Feiburg in 1969 and its 1st congress, just like the last, was held in Edinburgh, Scotland.