Being part of an academic medical center means faculty at the University of Kansas Medical Center are committed to the educational excellence of the enterprise. That commitment was on full display recently when faculty from the departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Anesthesiology participated in the annual meeting of ASET - The Neurodiagnostic Society, Aug. 15-17, in Kansas City.

ASET is the largest national organization of neurodiagnostic professionals providing continuing education and professional development. Neurodiagnostic technicians are involved with gathering and analyzing electrical activity in the brain and spinal cord to assist physicians with diagnosing complex disorders and monitoring the ongoing function of the nervous system during surgery.

KU Department of Neurology faculty Mamatha Pasnoor, M.D., Constantine Farmakidis, M.D., Patrick Landazuri, M.D., Utku Uysal, M.D., and Kathleen Gustafson, Ph.D., presented at the meeting, which drew nearly 700 attendees, including neurodiagnostic technologists, laboratory managers, physicians and other scientists. Additional KU Medical Center faculty who presented at the meeting included Paul J. Camarata, M.D., and Koji Ebersole, M.D., of neurosurgery and Erin Plaza, M.D., of anesthesiology. Jamie Kennison, neurodiagnostic manager, The University of Kansas Health System, also gave a presentation.

"The focus of this meeting is on training and education on the latest neurodiagnostic techniques for diagnosing neurological conditions and monitoring spinal and brain surgeries," said Pasnoor, associate professor of neurology at KU. "I think more than the opportunity to speak at ASET was the opportunity to provide training to the community of technologists and physicians on techniques used by our experts at KU and Children's Mercy. These techniques are useful for both pediatric and adult patients."

This year's meeting celebrated the 60th anniversary of ASET, which is based in the Kansas City area.