Professor Raimund Firsching, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Magdeburg, Germany addressed the German Neurosurgical Society in late May. His subject was neurotrauma. Professor Firsching awarded prizes for research at that meeting.  Professor Firsching has just been elected to the International Committee of the American Academy of Spine Physicians. His expertise is welcome, particularly relative to trauma of the spine and the spinal cord/nerve roots.