International Neurology and Neurosurgery Conference 2026

Written By Fahm Deen, Nikhita Bhatt, Devanandh Murugesan, Anna Baker, Gladys Ng

Introduction

The International Neurology and Neurosurgery Conference (INNC) 2026 marked an exciting return of one of the UK’s largest student-led events in the field, held over two days at UCL East’s Marshgate Campus in London, on the 17th and 18th of January 2026. Centred around the theme “Pioneering Advancements in Neurology and Neurosurgery: From Discovery to Impact,” the conference brought together students, trainees, and clinicians to explore the journey from research innovation to clinical application.⁵

INNC was established five years ago to offer extracurricular exposure to neurology and neurosurgery. It was awarded ‘Best Event of the Year’ by the UCL Students’ Union for the 2020/2021 academic year.

Over the past 5 years, INNC has evolved through refinement and adaptation. As a result, it has expanded significantly in scale and reach, expanding beyond a local event for UCL students. INNC currently stands as the largest Neurology and Neurosurgery Undergraduate Conference in the United Kingdom, delivering world-class education and unique opportunities to more than 300 attendees from 17 countries. Our programme presents lectures by leading experts, provides hands-on workshops with advanced equipment, and facilitates discussion-based workshops on novel concepts and key clinical skills. A core strength of INNC lies in its focus on unification and collaboration, both in the programme and event organisation. We integrate clinical neurosciences to bridge scientific research with clinical practice.We also include topics from related specialities such as neuroradiology, neuropathology, and neuro-ophthalmology. INNC unifies London’s neuroscience and neurosurgical societies, collaborating with King’s College London, Imperial College London, and St. George’s to reduce duplication of neuro conferences in London. We combined  efforts into a single, high-quality event that offers diverse experiences, attracts industry support, and enriches networking opportunities for attendees.

Speakers

Keynotes

Our neurosurgery keynote was the internationally renowned neurosurgeon, innovator, researcher, and educator, Professor Henry Brem. From 2000 to 2025, he served as Harvey Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery, and Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is currently Professor of Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Oncology, and Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and is the Director of both the Neurosurgery Translational Research Center and the historic Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory, founded by Harvey Cushing. He joined us from the USA via video call, generously sharing insight into his career path, the skills it takes to become a neurosurgeon and the importance of engaging in research. We were so grateful to Professor Brem for graciously answering the many audience questions that followed his talk. 

Our neurology keynote was Professor Kailash Bhatia, a professor of clinical neurology at the Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders at the Institute of Neurology, here at University College London). He is also an honorary consultant neurologist at the affiliated National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), Queen Square. He is a prolific researcher, and walked us through the key points and mentors in medical school and his career that led to his interest in movement disorders, his research at Queen Square and his role as editor of the extensive reference textbook “Marsden’s Book of Movement Disorders” which was awarded the Best Book in Neuroscience award at the 2013 British Medical Association (BMA) Medical Book Awards. Coming straight from an international trip and recovering from illness, the effort that Professor Bhatia made to come speak at our conference – and, it must be noted, in such an engaging and inspiring manner – did not go unnoticed, and students thoroughly enjoyed his talk and the audience Q&A afterwards.

Brain-Computer Interfaces

Our two speakers for our brain-computer interfaces panel demonstrated the importance of the neuroscientific research that is developing our understanding of the brain and is being translated to clinical practice.

Professor Andreas Schaefar was our first speaker of the conference, delivering a talk on Neural Coding and Behaviour: Insights from Systems Neuroscience.  He is a Professor of Neuroscience at UCL and Assistant Director and Principal Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute. He spoke about the work of the lab he leads there, the Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Laboratory, which aims to understand the structure and function of the brain by studying neural circuits in mice and humans.

Our second speaker was Mr Aimun Jamjoom, a Consultant Neurosurgeon and Clinician-Scientist at Queen’s Hospital, Romford. He spoke about functional neurosurgery and brain mapping, drawing upon his prolific research in these areas and as Chief Investigator of the Forest 1 study, a mechanistic neuroscience project investigating cognition using an ultrasonic brain–computer interface.

Neuroradiology

To touch upon the subspecialism of Neuroradiology, we welcomed Dr Prem Rangi, a Consultant in Interventional and Diagnostic Neuroradiology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square. He delivered an intriguing talk on the topic of neurointervention, drawing upon his key clinical focus in the endovascular management of vascular problems of the brain and spine. 

Panel discussion: Battle of the Specialties

Our Battle of the Specialties panel was a highlight of the conference, aiming to highlight the collaborative work of neurologists and neurosurgeons as well as their different – or similar – approaches to cases and pathways to specialisation. Rather than being a ‘battle’, it was an hour of insightful, honest discussion between the doctors, responding to one another and reflecting on their practice.

Our esteemed panel was comprised of three neurologists and two neurosurgeons:

• Dr David Hargroves, a consultant neurologist in Stroke Medicine in East Kent and NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke
• Dr Jasper Morrow, a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery specialising in Neuromuscular Diseases
• Dr Sui Wong, a consultant Neurologist and Neuro-ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trusts
• Mr Kristian Aquilina, a consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon and surgical lead for neuro-oncology at Great Ormond Street Hospital
• Professor Dimitrios Paraskevopoulos, the clinical lead for neurosurgery at Barts Health NHS Trust, specialising in skull base surgery and neuro-oncology

They answered questions relating to innovation and research, training pathways and career, and clinical decision-making. The discussion was followed by an engaging audience Q&A and the doctors and surgeons generously stayed afterwards to speak to keen students individually.

Dr David Hargroves, a consultant stroke neurologist and NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke, very kindly sent us an unprompted reflection on the event which we were very grateful for. He remarked upon how closely aligned the opinions of panellists were and how “refreshingly honest” their interdisciplinary discussion was. ” Dr Hargroves remarked that, “one of the most grounding parts of the session...was the focus on patient-centred outcomes. We were reminded that our clinical scales and trial endpoints don’t always reflect what patients actually find disabling. [...] If we don’t listen properly, we risk designing research and services that miss the point.” The discussion about careers, particularly relevant to the student audience was “reassuringly human”, with the consensus being “to keep an open mind, get broad experience, and pay attention to what drains you as much as what excites you”.

He eloquently ended on the point that there is evidently no ‘battle’ between specialties. Rather, “[n]eurology and neurosurgery work best when they are curious about each other, honest about their limits, and focused on the same thing - doing better for patients. That, ultimately, is the only outcome that matters.”

Gower’s Round

For the first time, INNC hosted a clinical grand round featuring two patients with distinct neurological conditions: spinocerebellar ataxia and hereditary spastic paraparesis. The clinical grand round was chaired by Dr Simon Farmer, Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, whose expertise lies in general diagnostic neurology. 

Unlike conventional case discussions delivered through slides, this format brought clinical neurology to life before a large, live audience. Known locally as the Gowers Grand Round, named after Sir William Gowers, this weekly teaching tradition has served as a whetstone for clinical reasoning for over a century  , honing the minds and diagnostic judgment of generations of neurologists in training. 

At INNC 2026, the round opened with an expert demonstration from Dr Farmer on how to perform a comprehensive yet streamlined neurological examination. This was followed by the central component of the session: the patient’s clinical history was presented, after which the patient was invited on stage for a live examination. Observing the elicited signs firsthand, participants were encouraged to propose differential diagnoses and were then guided by Dr Farmer through the process of lesion localisation, diagnostic reasoning, investigation and management as further information emerged. 

This session quickly became one of the highlights of INNC 2026. Its immediacy, intellectual rigour, and rare opportunity to witness live neurological signs made it not only deeply educational, but also a powerful demonstration of the art of bedside neurology. In bringing the Gowers Grand Round, INNC offered delegates an experience that was both highly distinctive and genuinely groundbreaking. 

Workshops 

INNC's workshop programme represents the conference's most visible evolution, growing from 4 sessions in 2024 to 17 in 2025, culminating in 21 distinct offerings this year. This growth is not simply volumetric. The 2026 programme was designed to span the full breadth of the neurosciences, encompassing neurosurgery, neurology, neuroradiology, interventional radiology, neuro-ophthalmology, neurotoxicology, neuroimmunology, neurogenetics, critical care, spinal surgery, microsurgery, and global health. Across both days, delegates attended 4 workshop sessions, totalling approximately 7 hours of hands-on training, supported by 50+ neurology & neurosurgery faculty.

Delegate feedback confirmed the programme's quality: 88% reported exposure to procedures never encountered previously, 87% stated they highly enjoyed the workshops attended, and 86% affirmed overall programme quality. No workshop scored below 4.1 out of 5 (4 being excellent) for overall quality, and the mean enjoyment score was 4.4 out of 5. What sets INNC's workshop portfolio apart from all other conferences is the originality of its content. 

The fluorescent-guided craniotomy workshop, developed entirely by INNC 2025 Director Fahm Deen, placed delegates in the role of a qualified neurosurgeon: performing burr hole drilling, craniotomy, and tumour resection on bio-printed skulls and brains, with fluorescent markers invisible to the naked eye becoming visible only under UV light to simulate 5-ALA guided surgery. Prior to this innovation, this procedure would typically only be encountered during neurosurgical specialty training. As the most-attended workshop at INNC 2026 and the outright favourite among most respondents, it achieved an overall quality score of 4.7 out of 5, with 83% awarding the maximum score of 5.  

This year, our workshop team also developed an entirely new neuro-emergencies escape room, challenging teams to manage acutely deteriorating patients across multiple stations under time pressure, integrating lumbar puncture, neuroimaging interpretation, and emergency decision-making into a single immersive experience. It achieved an overall quality score of 4.7 out of 5, with 85% of attendees performing a simulated lumbar puncture for the very first time.

INNC 2026 also retained the strongest-performing workshops from 2025, refining rather than replacing what had proven its value. The advanced tumour resection simulation returned to Day 2, with several delegates describing it as the most hands-on experience in demonstrating how delicate brain surgery truly is. Advanced microsurgery and epineural repair had participants practising peripheral nerve identification and micro suturing under magnification. 

Clinical neuroanatomy with live brain dissection was the second most cited favourite workshop among all respondents, with more than two thirds of participants handling a human brain for the very first time.  Neuro-ophthalmology specialist examination brought hands-on clinical practice to a subspecialty often absent from undergraduate teaching. 

Beyond hands-on workshops, INNC 2026 offered experiences that broadened delegates' understanding of the specialty more widely. The neurotoxicology and forensic neurology workshop explored the clinical and investigative dimensions of complex poisoning cases through case-based discussion. Neurogenetics examined drug discovery pipelines for CNS disorders, whilst Brains Beyond Borders addressed neurosurgery in resource-limited settings, demonstrating that large-group formats, when well-designed, generate engagement and value equal to simulation-based sessions.

INNC's workshop programme has become the conference's defining educational contribution: a curriculum of genuine novelty, accessible to students and doctors across all years and backgrounds, and delivered at a standard that places it in competition with surgical-grade training initiatives.

Poster & Oral Presentation

Similar to last year, INNC 2026 maintained a standard of academic rigour exceptional for undergraduate conferences, implementing peer-review processes that go beyond professional academic meetings. We received 60+ research abstract submissions from students and junior doctors spanning neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery. Each abstract underwent double-blind review by at least two consultant or professorial-grade faculty members, with scores independently collated across different categories.

22 abstracts were selected for poster presentations, and presenters were required to defend their research before consultants and professorial faculty from leading London institutions. Faculty reviewers were matched to submissions aligned with their clinical or research expertise, ensuring substantive evaluation.

Prize awards, funded by sponsors and charitable organisations, were conferred to outstanding presentations in each category, comprising equipment and educational resources. This framework implements the rigour of academic meetings whilst providing attendees with authentic experience in research dissemination.

Essay Competition

The INNC Essay competition made a return this year with two main categories for submission: (1) Neuroscience/Neurology - highlighting the translational impact of emerging breakthroughs in neuroscience and (2) Neurosurgery – focusing on landmark cases, techniques, or influential figures in the field. We were delighted to receive nearly 30 high-quality submissions from our delegates, which were rigorously marked by a distinguished panel of five emeritus professors. The winning essays explored a diverse set of topics, such as adult neurogenesis, brain–computer interfaces, endoscopic third ventriculostomy, and the pioneering contributions of Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil.

Widening Participation

The Widening Participation programme remained a central focus of INNC, reflecting our continued commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. Building on the success of 2025, this year’s programme expanded to welcome an even greater number of students, approximately 100 students, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds within London. Our INNC widening participation committee, comprised of UCL medical students delivered inspiring talks on medical school admissions, completed live BLS demonstrations, and ran hands-on workshops including suturing, multiple mini interview (MMI) practice, and an introduction to the neurological examination. We are incredibly proud of the team for their dedication in organising these sessions and liaising with several secondary schools across London over many months to make this programme possible, ensuring to inspire and support aspiring medics.

Sponsors 

The delivery of INNC 2026 was made possible through strategic partnerships with 35 national and international organisations, including charities, industry partners, educational platforms, and professional bodies, representing 60% growth from 22 sponsors in 2025.

Most significantly, INNC secured substantial grant funding from the Guarantors of Brain for the second consecutive year, establishing our position as the only undergraduate conference in the country to receive this prestigious award. This was complemented by grant support from UCL Students' Union, which specifically funded our widening participation initiative for 100+ students from underrepresented backgrounds.

At the industry level, partners including Philips, Johnson & Johnson, Mentice, Inovus Medical, Clarius, UpSurgeOn, Meticuly, deSoutter Medical, Limbs & Things, and Brainomix, amongst many others, provided high-fidelity equipment for our workshops: surgical navigation systems, VR simulation platforms, ultrasound equipment, endoscopic trainers, and cranial implant and deep brain stimulation technology, to name a few. Additionally, educational partners such as Geeky Medics, TeachMeSurgery, and SPOTTERMED provided a range of prizes and academic subscriptions for delegates, whilst professional bodies including the Royal College of Surgeons, the Association of British Neurologists, and the British Medical Association lent formal institutional recognition alongside cash and non-cash contributions such as merchandise to enhance the conference experience. Altogether, the INNC 2026 programme was also awarded 12 CPD points by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

The result was a conference that could offer international faculty, hands-on workshops of the highest quality at this level, and subsidised attendance for delegates, within a financially self-sustaining model that sets a replicable standard for future editions.

Read the rest of the edition here.