Welcome Message

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

The XXIV congress of the European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (ESSFN) will take place in Marseille, France on September 23-26, 2020, at The Palais du Pharo a high tech congress center embedded in an historical monument. The Mediterranean city of Marseille is a unique venue with over 2200 years of rich surgical history. Marseille is the oldest city in France by far. Founded 2600 years ago by Greeks, Marseille have kept a very independent and specific history. The first medical school was founded 200 years BC making Marseille one of the first high place for medicine.

Scientifically, in the past few years we have witnessed remarkable advancements in the field of Stereotactic & Functional Neurosurgery, and our society has grown into the vibrant community accordingly. Exciting new technologies, are enabling us to conduct new innovative procedures which were previously thought to be nearly impossible making our specialty in perpetual rebirth. It is our mission to secure that the ever-broadening scope of knowledge in the field of Stereotactic & Functional Neurosurgery will continue to benefit patients and medical practitioners all across the globe. We plan to ensure the continuous growth of our society by further developing scientific programs with exciting new content. This cannot be done without your contribution and help, and I want to invite all of you to submit your latest original work and thank every member of our society for your sincere support. Pain, Epilepsy, Spasticity Psychiatry, Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders will be major topics with discussion of the latest advances in clinical management, technology and scientific research. The ESSFN congress will also highlight non-stereotactic functional surgery in epilepsy, pain, spasticity and other conditions, as well as stereotactic non-functional neurosurgery for brain tumours, radiosurgery, and other stereotactic therapies.

From the cultural point of view, Marseille, the historic capital of Provence, offers many delights. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as “Massalia”, Marseille was an important European trading center and remains the main commercial port of the French Republic. Marseille is now France's largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. Marseille is a city that has its own unique culture and is proud of its differences from the rest of France. Today it is a regional center for culture and entertainment with an important opera house, historical and maritime museums, art galleries and numerous cinemas, clubs, bars and restaurants. The small port of l'Estaque on the far end of the Bay of Marseille became a favorite haunt for artists, including Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Georges Braque and Raoul Dufy. Marseille is also well known in France for its hip hop and rap music.

Marseille served as the European Capital of Culture for 2013. Rich and poor neighborhoods exist side-by-side Marseille has a larger degree of multicultural tolerance. It was chosen to give a 'human face' to the European Union to celebrate cultural diversity and to increase understanding between Europeans

We hope that the XXIII Congress of the ESSFN will provide intellectual stimulation and unforgettable memories of scientific, neurosurgical, cultural, culinary and social excellence.

It is truly an honor and privilege to welcome you to Marseille in September 2020

Jean Régis Secretary of the ESSFN and local host

Local Organizing Committee:

Anne Balossier, Serge Blond, Benoit Bataille, Pierre Bourdillon, François Caire, Stephan Chabardes, Philippe Coubes, Sophie Coulbois, Philippe Cornu, Emmanuel Cuny, Vincent Dhardemare, Bertrand Devaux, Denys Fontaine, Marc Guenot, Claire Haegelen, Carine Karachi, Michel Lefranc, Jean-Jacques Lemaire, Patrick Mertens, Sylvie Raoul, Nicolas Reyns, Philippe Rigoard, Jean-Christophe Sol, Eric Seigneuret, Stephane Palfi, Jimmy Voirin.