North American Neuromodulation Society is a scientific organization that serves to promote and advance neuromodulation

Neuromodulation

In Neuromodulation several classes of neurotransmitters regulate diverse populations of central nervous system neurons...

 as a treatment for various disease

Disease

A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...

s.

History

NANS was founded in 1994 as the American Neuromodulation Society. It was renamed the North American Neuromodulation Society in 1999.

American Neuromodulation Society

The American Neuromodulation Society was the brain-child of Ballard Wright, MD and Barry N. Strauss, MD. Dr. Wright was largely responsible for incorporating and establishing ANS as a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In the early days, with Dr. Wright volunteering to be the initial Executive Director, the society offices operated through his offices in Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

. The organization briefly changed its acronym to ANmS to avoid confusion because a company previously named Neuromed adopted the ANS acronym.

Today

NANS developed out of the American Neuromodulation Society and eventually evolved into an organization whose membership in the past 2 years has more than doubled to more than 600 members. The majority of these members are working in pain related disciplines, although members in areas such as epilepsy, urinary incontinence, angina, and movement disorders are also represented. In addition, NANS has taken active participation in opening forums for presenting the work of those who deal with functional electrical stimulation for patients with tetraplegia

Spinal cord injury

A spinal cord injury refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence...

 (quadriplegia) and paraplegia or paralysis due to brain injury

Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...

 and stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

. Approximately 800 participants attended the recent annual scientific meeting at the Wynn Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas is a resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers . It is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue Wynn Las...

. The official Journal of NANS is Neuromodulation which is published quarterly.

Annual Meeting

The 13th Annual Meeting of the North American Neuromodulation Society was held in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 from December 3-6, 2009, at the Wynn Encore Hotel and Casino. There were over 830 registered attendees.
The 14th Annual Meeting will also be held at the Wynn Encore from 2-5 December 2010.

Presidents

• 1994 - 1998 Michael Stanton-Hicks
• 1998 - 2001 John C. Oakley
  John C. Oakley
  John C. Oakley was an American neurosurgeon. He was a pioneer in advancing spinal cord stimulator for the treatment of intractable pain....
  
  
• 2001 - 2002 Sam Hassenbusch
• 2002 - 2003 Peter Staats
• 2003 - 2005 Richard B. North
• 2005 - 2007 Joshua Prager
• 2007 - 2009 Jaimie Henderson
• 2009 - 2011 Robert Foreman

Relationship with International Neuromodulation Society

International Neuromodulation Society

International Neuromodulation Society

The International Neuromodulation Society is a non-profit group of clinicians, scientists and engineers dedicated to the scientific development and awareness of neuromodulation – the alteration of nerve activity through the delivery of electrical stimulation or chemical agents to targeted sites of...

(INS) was founded in 1992, to sensitize the international medical community to the concept of neuromodulation as an emerging multidisciplinary field. The North American Neuromodulation Society is a Regional Chapter of the INS.

INS Chapter Societies Worldwide

• Australian Neuromodulation Society
• Benelux Neuromodulation Society
• Brazilian Neuromodulation Society
• Canadian Neuromodulation Society
• German Neuromodulation Society
• Italian Neuromodulation Society
• Japan Neuromodulation Society
• Korean Neuromodulation Society
• Southeast European Neuromodulation Society
• Spanish Neuromodulation Society
• The Neuromodulation Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland

External links

• North American Neuromodulation Society
• International Neuromodulation Society