Deputy Lead appointed President of the World Muscle Society
Deputy Lead for the NIHR Newcastle BRC’s Neuromuscular theme, Professor Volker Straub, has been appointed President of the World Muscle Society
Professor Straub was unanimously elected from the 1st May, after a 20-year involvement in the society. He commented:
I am honoured not only to take on the role, but that the Executive Board has the trust in me to steer the Society for the next 3 years.
Professor Straub already had experience of working with the team at WMF, having served on its Executive for 10 years.
His personal dedication to the Society is evident from his involvement in its faculty teaching course, and he also acts as an Associate Editor for the Society’s journal. Additionally, he has been on the Editorial Board for ‘Neuromuscular Disorders’ for over 15 years.
On taking over as President, one of Professor Straub’s first challenges was arrangements and decisions over the up and coming 25th congress, due to take place in Canada in September.
No stranger to planning these events Professor Straub, along with Professor Kate Bushby, hosted the 13th WMF congress here in Newcastle in 2008 and he has been actively involved in most of the Society’s congresses since becoming a member. With the onset of COVID 19, the decision was made to suspend the face to face element of the meeting and replace it with a virtual one, free of charge to all members. Commenting on this the Executive said:
We will make the virtual 2020 congress free to attend so that as many of our members who might not have been able to travel to Canada this year as possible can join the WMS spirit of education, enjoyment and excitement!
Despite the current global challenges, Professor Straub is looking forward to his time as President and has a number of proposals he would like to action:
Over the next few years I aim to form stronger links between the World Muscle Society and national societies and initiatives, and would like to encourage an increase in memberships from LMIC.
I am already planning for next year’s annual congress in Prague and the congresses in Halifax, Canada in 2022, and Charleston, USA in 2022.