AMSTERDAM, April 6 /PRNewswire/ --

- Program Focuses on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as Well as Other Neurological Disorders

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services and Brain Mapping Foundation, announced today that it will Co-host the 6th Annual World Congress for Brain Mapping and Image Guided Therapy, August 26-29, 2009 at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

The International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society's (IBMISPS) annual world congress aims to break boundaries in science, technology, medicine and healthcare policy with presentations and exhibitions from pioneering leaders in a range of disciplines.

Kern Medical Center is the CME provider and co-sponsor of the annual IBMISPS World Congress (www.ibmisps-worldcongress.org), which is a multi-disciplinary forum designed to facilitate cross-disciplinary dissemination of technological and medical advances and scientific discovery among physicians, scientists, biotechnologists, engineers, policy makers and healthcare executives.

This year's event will also be accessible via virtual conference and podcast. Due to requests for late submissions the deadline for abstracts and paper submission has been extended to April 30, 2009.

Congress sessions range from basic translational research and multidisciplinary clinical practice and surgery, to healthcare policy, neuroMarketing and neuroeconomics, including: brain mapping, image guided therapy/surgery, multi-modality imaging, biophotonics, healthcare policy, FDA regulations, bioethics, biomedical, chemical and materials engineering, neuroscience, bioinformatics and grid technology, physiology, stem-cell therapy, imaging guided drug delivery, and operating rooms and hospitals of the future, stereotactic radiosurgery, human brain computer interface, brain implants, Spine of the future and spine instrumentation and nanomedicine, virtual reality neurosurgery and electronic nose for sniffing cancers.

To supplement a number of invited keynote speakers, multiple oral and poster presentations will be selected from the call for papers. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Principal military advisor to the President of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council is tentatively scheduled for a presentation.

The following is the list of confirmed keynote speakers: - Mr. Bob Woodruff, ABC News Anchorman and Founder of Remind Foundation - Mr. Sam Nazarian, Founder and CEO of SBE - Col (S) Michael S. Jaffee, MD, FS, USAF, National Director, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), Walter Reed Army Medical Center, US ARMY, Washington, DC, USA - Captain E. Melissa Kaime, M.D., Director of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), USA Armed Forces, Washington DC, USA - Peter M. Black, MD, PhD, Franc D. Ingraham Professor of Neurosurgery, Founding Chair, Dept. of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Franc D Ingraham, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA - Keith L. Black MD, Chairman, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Director, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgery Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA - Jim Cloar, Vice President and Manager of Medtronic Navigation, Medtronic Inc.

Elsevier, IBMISPS and Brain Mapping Foundation will also Co-host a virtual conference in tandem with the physical event in Boston, providing a truly interactive event that will allow people to sample the high-quality content and networking opportunities that the congress and exhibition provide from their desk. The virtual conference adds an exciting technological development to this well respected event and enables participation from anywhere in the world, ensuring that time and travel budgets are no barrier to attending. It is anticipated that overall attendance will be significantly increased as a result, benefiting speakers, delegates and sponsors alike.

Nigel Clear, Elsevier's Director of Conferences, commented: This authoritative and forward thinking event is a great example of the type of interactive, groundbreaking conferences Elsevier aims to produce. The mix of keynote speakers, oral sessions, and poster presentations will create a stimulating environment for academics, researchers, clinicians, and representatives from industry and governmental agencies to discuss cutting-edge technological advancements in this area.

It is a great honor to have Admiral Michael Mullen, Mr. Bob Woodruff and other distinguished keynote speakers and prominent scientists, surgeons, engineers and physicians on this program said, Babak Kateb, Founding Chairman of IBMISPS and Scientific Director of Brain Mapping Foundation; IBMISPS and Brain Mapping Foundation are committed to scientific excellence and proud to partnering with Elsevier on this world class program, he continued.

The congress is relevant for neurosurgeons, radiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, rehabilitation medicine, cardiologists, pulmonologists, bioethicists, policy makers, government officials, engineers, physicists, graphic designers, allied healthcare professionals, healthcare executives, students, post-doctorates, residents and fellows. The annual congress attracts numerous prominent international figures in science, medicine and government. Limited resident and student travel awards are available to the top three abstract submissions that are submitted by April 30th 2009.

About IBMISPS

The International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society (http://www.ibmisps.org) is a non-profit society organized for the purpose of encouraging basic and clinical scientists who are interested in areas of Brain Mapping and Intra-operative Surgical planning to improve the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients afflicted with neurological disorders.

This society promotes the public welfare and improves patient care through the translation of new technologies into life saving diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The society is committed to excellence in education, and scientific discovery. The society achieves its mission through multi-disciplinary collaborations with government agencies, patient advocacy groups, educational institutes and private sector (industry) as well as philanthropic organization.

About Kern Medical Center

Since our beginning in 1867, Kern Medical Center has been striving for excellence in serving the community in which we operate. Employing an average of 1300 staff members, Kern Medical Center is an integral part of the community.

Kern Medical Center is a 222 bed acute care teaching hospital. The Medical Center serves a community of approximately 650,000, and the hospital is owned and operated by the County of Kern. The health of the citizens of Kern County is a priority to Kern Medical Center, and it is the only hospital dedicated to physician resident training.

As an academic teaching hospital, Kern Medical Center trains more than 90 residents per year in the fields of Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and

Gynecology, Psychiatry, and a Transitional Year Program ranging in duration from one to five years. We are affiliated with UCLA, UCSD, and UCI Schools of Medicine, giving nearly 1,000 visiting doctors, researchers and other professionals and opportunity to assist our 65 full-time faculty physicians and take an active role in the teaching process.

Kern Medical Center provides care for over 16,000 in patients annually, while the clinics provide care and services for over 100,000 patients.

http://www.kernmedicalcenter.com/body.cfm?id=14

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media Contacts: Shira Tabachnikoff Elsevier +31-20-485-2736 s.tabachnikoff@elsevier.com Richard Hart IBMISPS Tel: +44(0)1460-259776 Fax: +44(0)1460-258783 richard.hart@event-logistics.co.uk

Media Contacts: Shira Tabachnikoff, Elsevier, +31-20-485-2736, s.tabachnikoff@elsevier.com; Richard Hart, IBMISPS, Tel: +44(0)1460-259776, Fax: +44(0)1460-258783, richard.hart@event-logistics.co.uk