PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Welcome to San Antonio and to our 100th meeting! It has truly been one of the highlights of my professional career to have been able to serve as your President, particularly during this most extraordinary year. As always, our annual meeting will provide you with the opportunity to hear about the latest, cutting edge research developments and innovations and will offer you the chance to participate in the most outstanding educational programs that the field of Pathology has to offer. In addition, this 100th meeting will feature a variety of very special events that have been planned to commemorate this momentous occasion. These include:

  • An Opening Ceremony that will pay tribute to both the history and culture of our host city, San Antonio, and the history and future of the discipline of Pathology

  • A "Run for Cancer Cure", a 5K run/walk, the proceeds from which will be donated by the Academy to the San Antonio branch of the American Cancer Society

  • A gala dinner event featuring Sir Ken Robinson, an author and most dynamic and inspirational speaker, who will tell us how innovation and creativity can move us collectively and individually to the next level

  • An Art Show and Sale featuring 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works of art by USCAP members, meeting attendees, sponsors and vendors

  • A Hall of Presidents featuring biographical information on all of the outstanding pathologists who have led the Academy

  • And much more...
Planning for our 100th meeting began more than 2 years ago. The special events that will take place at this meeting are the result of the combined effort and extraordinarily hard work of the members of an ad hoc committee that was assembled for this purpose and which I had the honor and privilege to chair. The members of this committee include Drs. Sylvia Asa, Jennifer Hunt, Jeffrey Myers, Victor Reuter and Richard Zarbo, and Kerry Crockett, USCAP Director of Operations and Meetings. I thank these committee members for their time and commitment. In addition, on behalf of the Academy I would like to thank Dr. Jeffrey Myers and the University of Michigan for providing a generous grant to sponsor Sir Ken Robinson. Sincere thanks and enormous gratitude also go to Jean Silva for developing and organizing the Hall of Presidents.

The theme of our 100th meeting is "Education & Innovation for the Next 100 Years". Original research findings will be presented in 1960 platform and poster presentations. Our educational offerings this year include 61 Short Courses (16 of them new), 19 Specialty Conferences, 26 Companion Society Meetings, and 6 Special Courses, two of which are new this year (Introduction to Molecular Pathology for the Practicing Pathologist, directed by Dr. Jennifer Hunt, and Basic Principles in Cytology, directed by Dr. Tarik Elsheikh). This year's Long Course, entitled "Practical Solutions to Common Problems in Pulmonary Pathology" and directed by Drs. Jeffrey Myers and Anna-Luise Katzenstein will provide a practical diagnostic approach to a variety of pulmonary pathology topics as well as the latest information on the use and application of ancillary studies, including newer molecular assays. The Nathan Kaufman Timely Topics lecture, entitled "Endoscopic Microscopy: Bridging the Radiology-Pathology Divide", will be a provocative discussion of the emerging role of optical imaging as a diagnostic modality and will be presented by Dr. Guillermo (Gary) Tierney. This year's Maude Abbott Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Elaine Jaffe, a world renowned hematopathologist and a superb teacher, who will speak on "The Microscope as a Tool for Disease Discovery".

Several of our most outstanding and accomplished colleagues will be honored this year by awards. These include Dr. Stephen Sternberg who will receive the Distinguished Pathologist Award and Dr. Sylvia Asa who will receive the F.K. Mostofi Distinguished Service Award. In addition, we will be presenting for the first time the Harvey Goldman Teaching/Mentoring Award. The first recipients of this award, established by the USCAP Council to recognize Dr. Goldman's longstanding contributions as a teacher and mentor, will be Dr. Donald Antonioli and Dr. Henry Appelman. Finally Dr. Fred Silva, who will be retiring as USCAP Executive Vice President (EVP) after 12 years of tireless and dedicated service to the Academy, will receive this year's President's Award.

In addition to culminating in our 100th meeting, this past year has been eventful for several other reasons:

Executive Vice President Search
After Dr. Silva announced his plans to retire as USCAP EVP this coming summer, a search committee was formed and charged with the daunting task of identifying his successor. This committee consisted of Drs. Greg Fuller, Elaine Jaffe, Richard Kempson, and Victor Reuter, Ms. Kerry Crockett and me, and was most ably and effectively chaired by Dr. Richard Zarbo. After a rigorous search throughout North America, the committee identified a most outstanding candidate to become the next USCAP EVP, Dr. Bruce Smoller, whose appointment to this position was approved by Council with the highest level of enthusiasm. We wish Dr. Smoller well in his new position and I personally look forward to working closely with him during the coming year and for many years to come.

Strategic Planning
As a result of the Long Term Strategic Planning exercise held in October, 2009 that was chaired by Dr. David Hardwick and facilitated by Dr. Jeffrey Myers, five task forces were formed to address what were felt to be the five major strategic "pillars" of the Academy: Innovative Educational Products (chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Myers); Finance (chaired by Dr. Jonathan Epstein); Organizational Structure/Governance (chaired by Dr. Victor Reuter and me); Organizational Structure of the Central USCAP Office (chaired by Dr. Hardwick); and Resident Engagement (chaired by Dr. Stephen Black-Schaffer). Reports and recommendations from each of these Task Forces were submitted to an Oversight Committee (chaired by Dr. Richard Zarbo and composed of Dr. David Hardwick, Dr. Fred Silva, Kerry Crockett and Carolyn Lane from the USCAP Augusta office), and then to Council for approval. Since that time, a number of these strategic initiatives have begun to be implemented including the formation of a new Innovative Educational Products Committee (chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Myers) and new committees to address membership issues (chaired by Dr. Linda Ferrell), and issues of importance to trainees (chaired by Dr. Laura Collins). This process will continue during the next year and the new initiatives that evolve from this process will have a profound, positive and enduring impact on the Academy and its future. I thank all involved in this process for their hard work and dedication.

CME and SAM Credits
USCAP offers a large number and wide variety of opportunities to earn CME and American Board of Pathology-approved self-assessment module (SAM) credits for maintenance of certification through its four meetings (the Annual Meeting, Diagnostic Pathology; Diagnostic Cytopathology and Practical Pathology Seminars) and through our online Anatomic Pathology Electronic Case Series (APECS). In addition, we recently partnered with 18 of our Companion Societies to issue joint documents that will indicate in which sub-specialty area(s) of pathology CME credits have been obtained. Thus, after this year's Annual meeting, in addition to being able to quickly generate a transcript of all your CME/SAMs credits from the USCAP website, you will receive documents that reflect recognition from both USCAP and the appropriate Companion Society for obtaining CME credits in particular sub-specialty areas.

Philanthropy
The USCAP Foundation was established to further the goals of the Academy by broadening the base of support for programs that will benefit the field of anatomic pathology. As an extension of the overall mission of USCAP, charitable funds are being raised for the following purposes: continuing professional education for members of the Academy including web-based learning opportunities; scholarship assistance, travel funds, educational materials, and/or web-based search and learning opportunities for USCAP members and other pathologists from developing countries; scholarship funds provided to encourage medical students to enter the specialty. Giving opportunities include, but are not limited to, bequests, memorials and endowments, charitable trusts, outright gifts, future gifts and others as determined by donors' financial situations and interests. I am particularly pleased to remind you that at last year's Annual Meeting we announced the establishment of a "Fred Silva Legacy Fund" to honor Dr. Silva's inspiring leadership of the Academy over the past 12 years. This fund will reside in the USCAP Foundation and received at its inception an anonymous "seed money" gift of $25,000. I thank those donors for their generosity and for giving us such a wonderful starting point. I encourage you to learn more about this fund and the other opportunities for philanthropy through the USCAP Foundation by clicking on the "USCAP Foundation" button on our website (uscap.org). I hope you will consider contributing to one of more of these most worthwhile causes.

The Juan Rosai Collection
As announced at last year's Annual meeting, the USCAP has partnered with Aperio Technologies, Inc. to digitize, archive, and make publicly available online, at no cost to the pathology community, the Dr. Juan Rosai Collection of Surgical Pathology Seminars. Dr. Rosai, a world-renowned expert and consultant in surgical pathology, has donated his extensive glass slide seminar series collection inherited from the late Lauren V. Ackerman, MD, a leader in the discipline of surgical pathology, to make this project possible. The collection consists of almost 20,000 cases originally presented at more than 1,400 pathology seminars, and comprises digital images of the original slides, clinical history, and diagnostic summaries, along with present day commentary by Dr. Rosai and other experts. The Rosai Collection will be available soon via the USCAP website.

Our Annual meeting is always a great opportunity for learning, re-connecting with old friends, and forging new collaborations and friendships. I am confident that our 100th meeting will provide you with these opportunities and much more. So, enjoy San Antonio and our 100th meeting!