History

The INS held its first meeting in Rome in 1992. After the North American chapter (1995) and the Italian chapter (1999), the UK chapter was born in 2001, its first President being Dr Simon Thomson who hosted its inaugural meeting in Basildon in 2001. Simon went on to become President of the INS in 2009 and served two terms, stepping down in 2015. The INS now has over 2,200 members throughout the world, and has 20 National Chapters. Since its inaugural meeting, NSUKI has seen its membership grow from just 24 to over 100 members. NSUKI’s ambition is to draw all those who provide such treatments into the Society so it can truly represent this nation’s neuromodulation talent.

Neuromodulation is the application of electrical stimulation or chemical agents targeted at the central or peripheral nervous system which alters the activity of nerves, often leading to diverse and beneficial effects remote from the point of stimulation or drug treatment. Although its main direction has been treating chronic pain where conventional treatments have failed, rapid technological advances have seen its application in chronic angina, cancer pain, critical limb ischaemia, and many neuropathic disorders affecting the viscera, pelvis and extremities. Cranial applications including deep brain stimulation, now established as a treatment of choice in drug-resistant Parkinson’s disease, have seen its application extended to complex pain disorders, depression, epilepsy, and even hypertension and obesity. Vagal nerve simulation is now established as a treatment for chronic epilepsy in cases that fail to respond to multiple drug therapies and cannot be treated by other conventional surgeries. Vagal nerve simulation is also used in refractory depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders and is now being investigated for apparent beneficial effects in systemic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease; so called bio-electric medicine.

NSUKI attracts members from many disciplines involved in neuromodulation, including consultant anaesthetists involved in chronic pain management and neurosurgeons that have an interest in functional neurosurgery. NSUKI is managed by an Executive Committee, elected by its members, and includes a neurosurgical representative on its Board. It has recently appointed an executive member outside the fields of chronic pain and neurosurgery in an effort to forge links with many other specialties involved in neuromodulation, including urologists and gastroenterologists (e.g. sacral nerve stimulation for incontinence and dysfunctional bladder syndromes).

The aims of the Society are:

To bring together clinicians in all disciplines practising in the field of neuromodulation
To raise awareness of the therapies to both the public and other clinicians who are involved in managing conditions that may benefit from neuromodulation
To provide an academic platform that organises the annual scientific meeting and offers small research grants or arranges workshops and other educational activities throughout the UK and Ireland
To be a professional body that communicates and advises many regional and national organisations and helps to develop appropriate national guidelines and recommendations

All these activities are aimed at advancing the art and science of neuromodulation throughout the UK, and hopefully increasing awareness and encouraging the uptake of the therapies that neuromodulation offers. As a trainee, Fellow or established consultant in any of the specialist areas that use neuromodulation techniques, We would encourage you to become a member of the Society, supporting your professional activities and allowing you to become actively involved in raising awareness and promoting the treatments you offer.

Presidents of NSUKI

2001 – 2004 Dr Simon Thomson

2004 – 2006 Mr Paul Eldridge

2006 – 2008 Dr Jon Valentine

2008 – 2010 Dr Francis Luscombe

2010 – 2012 Dr Jon Raphael

2012 – 2014 Dr Sam Eldabe

2014 – 2016 Mr Roger Strachan

2016 – 2018 Ms Stana Bojanic

2018 – 2020 Dr Ganesan Baranidharan

2020 – 2022 Dr Ashish Gulve

2022 - Mr James Fitzgerald

NSUKI Annual Scientific Meetings

2001 Basildon

2002 Norwich

2003 London (St Thomas’s)

2004 Liverpool (Walton Centre)

2005 Dudley

2006 Cork

2007 York (joint with British Society of Functional surgery group)

2008 Cardiff

2009 Plymouth

2010 Leeds

2011 INS world congress in London, no NSUKI meeting

2012 Berlin (joint with German Neuromodulation Society, DGNM)

2013 Oxford

2014 Montreux (Joint with Swiss NM and Swiss Pain intervention societies)

2015 London (joint with German Neuromodulation Society, DGNM)

2016 Manchester

2017 Oxford

2018 e-INS Nijmegen (NSUKI meeting)

2019 Leeds

2020 Covid

2021 Covid

2022 Newcastle