The last few months has seen ASSBI engage internationally, with some exciting opportunities developing as a result. The Global Neuropsychology Congress, which was co-hosted by ASSBI, the Federation of the European Societies of Neuropsychology (FESN), the International Neuropsychological Society (INS), and the Latin American Society of Neuropsychology (SLAN), took place in Porto in July. It was a wonderful and truly global conference, with more than 1000 attendees from over 50 countries and a prominent focus on the cross-cultural relevance and accessibility of assessments and interventions for people with brain conditions around the world. Australia was the country with the second highest number of registrants. I was proud to see the wide range and high quality of presentations from ASSBI members, including our ASSBI-sponsored symposium on co-design chaired by Jennie Ponsford with presenters Nicci Grace, Jacinta Douglas, Jessica Trevena-Peters and Jill Hwang. Special thanks to co-convenor Vicki Anderson (who we’ll claim as ASSBI’s!) who worked incredibly hard over many years to organise a massive and successful event; and to Skye McDonald and Jennie Ponsford, our ASSBI representatives on the program committee and local organising committee respectively. Whilst in Porto, the 4 host societies, including ASSBI, met with a representative from the World Health Organization to discuss potential opportunities for engagement with relevant WHO initiatives. At the conference close, I was delighted to present the ASSBI Global Ambassador Award to Skye McDonald. Congratulations once again Skye!
While in Portugal, several members of the ASSBI executive committee also met with colleagues from India, to explore ways in which we can make ASSBI’s resources, webinars, conferences and other training opportunities available at minimal or no cost to clinicians and researchers in India and other low-and-middle-income countries. We are continuing to engage with them to develop these initiatives and more. There is much we can learn from our colleagues in low-and-middle-income countries about their creative and innovative efforts to deliver services in resource-constrained contexts with a diverse range of people with unmet support needs. This is an exciting chapter for ASSBI; we are keen to share our wealth of resources and opportunities with countries where access to these may be difficult. Stay tuned for announcements on this.
Plans are shaping up well for the 2025 7th Pacific Rim conference in Brisbane from 2nd-5th July, where ASSBI will partner with INS and the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists (CCN) to deliver a fabulous and vibrant program. The team of convenors includes representatives from each of the three organisations: thank you to Jenny Fleming (ASSBI), Vince Oxenham & Jody Kamminga (CCN) and Kerryn Pike (INS) for stepping up and bringing such enthusiasm and purpose to this voluntary role. We hope to see everyone there for what promises to be another fantastic conference and chance to connect with our clinician, researcher, student and lived experience community members, both local and international.
Dana Wong, President, ASSBI
