ISCoS

Acknowledgements

The success of any big project is dependent on the dedicated inputs of a cohesive team. The ISCoS Textbook on Comprehensive Management of Spinal Cord Injuries is a perfect example of great teamwork. Indeed, multidisciplinary teamwork is a key principle of spinal cord injury management and the well-coordinated efforts of all the team members facilitated the timely and successful fruition of this project.
At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude to the ISCoS Executive for their constant guidance and patronage and to the ISCoS General Body as well as Council for supporting the whole project. Ever since I had mooted the idea of the textbook, there has been unflinching support which boosted the morale of all contributors.
Like any other textbook, the contribution of authors and coauthors is vital to ensure the comprehensiveness and appropriateness of the content. I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable and voluntary contribution of 186 authors and coauthors of this textbook. In addition to the formidable task of compiling all updated literature on a vast topic, they also had to bear with us as we “pulled the strings”, cajoled, and sometimes even hounded them to complete the task on very strict and short timelines. The following words from one of them sum it all, “Congratulations on
completing this daunting project, and for involving me. Though I look forward to seeing the final product, I will miss the almost daily recent reminder emails. I feel a bit lonely already….”
There is a common saying Nothing About Us Without Us! Understanding the importance of this saying, we involved the consumers in each step of the project: planning, authoring of some chapters, and reviewing of all chapters through representation in the Editorial Board. We thank all consumers who contributed to the project. They were very ably represented in the Editorial Committee by Jane Horsewell. The Consumer Network of Spinal Cord Society (Indian Chapter) also wholeheartedly supported the project The contribution of the Editorial Committee was equally indispensable for bringing out a quality product. As section editors or editors of the whole textbook, the experts put in a lot of their precious time, on internet and for face-to-face meetings at Istanbul and Maastricht, peer reviewing the chapters thoroughly and extensively before they were submitted to the publishers. Although the inputs of all of them were most valuable, the inputs of some of them such as Dr Fin Biering Sorensen, Dr Lawrence Vogel, Dr Apichana Kovindha, Dr Douglas Brown, Dr Ruth Marshall, Dr Sergio Aito, Dr Stanley Ducharme, Dr MJ Mulcahey, Dr JJ Wyndaele, Dr Patrick Kluger, Dr Susan Charlifue, and Dr Martin McClelland were most notable.
The other team which had a very significant contribution in the compilation of the textbook was the team at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre. I could not have succeeded in meeting my responsibilities without the wholehearted support of the team of Consultants and Fellows of the Spine Service. They have been involved with me at each step of planning and implementation of the project. There were innumerable sessions of discussions and reviews. My Spine fellows need a special mention for their valuable contribution. They enthusiastically burnt the midnight oil in order to fulfill
their valuable commitments to the textbook in addition to their already tasking clinical responsibilities. The Basic and Clinical Research departments also pitched in to support the initiative. I would especially like to acknowledge the unstinted support and contribution of my colleague, Dr Gaurav Sachdeva, who with his diligence and efficiency has been a pillar of support for the whole project.
I am grateful to Ms Sangeetha, Dr Vandana Mittal, Mr Nayan Gogoi, and others at Wolters Kluwer India led by Mr MS Mani, for being so professional in putting the textbook together and seeing it through to publication.The timelines for the project were very tight but they enthusiastically and ungrudgingly strove to meet the deadlines without compromising the quality of their work in any manner.
No textbook goes to press without the dedication of those behind the scenes. Every editorial committee member and contributor would have administrative assistants, who would have supported the initiative and ensured that the deadlines were met. We appreciate their invaluable contribution. Here I would like to make a special mention of Ms. Shashi Rautela in my office who has helped not only with the entire correspondence but also with the organization and management of the whole project. Her task was enormous but she very efficiently and smilingly undertook the whole responsibility. I am also grateful to Meenakshi Mohan for her help in reviewing the referencing for the whole textbook. I am also grateful to Sunita Khosla and Veenu Pasricha who have helped compile an audiovisual about the textbook which would be used to create awareness about this resource.
In the end, I would like to thank the families of all contributors for sparing them in their extra time in the interest of advancing the knowledge of spinal injury management. Here I would like to specially acknowledge my family, including my wife Maninder, my mother Sushil Kaur, and my son Kabir for having been so understanding and providing the moral support without which I certainly would never have been able to deliver the project. The blessings of my father, (Late) Shri Harcharan Singh, have always been with me and were a guiding force for this project too.

Harvinder Singh Chhabra
Editor-in-Chief
President Elect & Chair of Prevention Committee: ISCoS