The 1st Annual
Neuro-Oncology Symposium (1ANOS) was
organized by the Pakistan Society of Neuro-Oncology
(PASNO) in collaboration with Aga Khan
University, Karachi. The symposium was held
from September 4-6, 2020 and was endorsed by
Society for Neuro-oncology, World Federation
of Neuro-oncological Societies, European
Society of Neuro-oncology, Asian Society of
Neuro-Oncology and Society of Neuro-Oncology
of Sub-Saharan Africa, among others. The
list of speakers included some of the
world’s best known experts in Neuro-oncology,
including both basic scientists and
clinicians. There were more than 40
international speakers, and around 20
national speakers, including AKU faculty
from both Karachi and Nairobi campuses. The
format was designed to have sessions both in
the morning and evening, to insure
participation from around the world, as
there were speakers from five continents.
The symposium featured a mix of state of art
lectures, interactive panel discussions,
multi-disciplinary case-based discussions,
expert commentaries, and even featured
highly moving talks by patient caregivers.
The response was overwhelming and more than
1400 participants, from more than 240
institutions across the world and from
various countries, including Australia,
Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Kenya,
Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, UAE, UK, USA, registered for the
meeting. The second day of the symposium
also featured the launch of Pakistan Society
of Neuro-oncology (PASNO), Pakistan’s first
scientific society dedicated to research,
teaching, capacity building and networking,
in the field of Neuro-oncology. Professor
Syed Ather Enam was announced as the
Founding President of PASNO. The launch
featured an enlightening panel discussion
involving leadership from major Neuro-oncology
Societies of the world, on the role of Neuro-Oncology
Societies in Low- and Middle-Income
Countries (LMIC). The leadership strongly
praised the need of PASNO, and highlighted
important role it will play to improve the
care of brain tumor patients in Pakistan and
in the region. They also congratulated the
organizers on using 1ANOS as a platform to
establish networks with centers like UCSF,
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Hospital for
Sick Children and Fudan University, and
expected this as a first step towards
further collaborations between these
centers.
