A Word from President Krishna Komanduri, MD
New Year’s Resolutions
I hope all of you had a very happy and joyful holiday season, and that those of you who weren’t engaged in patient care or meeting research deadlines enjoyed some precious time off with your loved ones. After a whirlwind 2017 (much of it spent on airplanes) I had chance to decompress with my family at the end of the year. This included some time reading a couple of novels and catching up on TV and also video game schooling at the hands of our triplets (who just turned 15) and our 11 year-old son. I even picked up my (dusty) guitar and clarinet after several years, though for the sake of the sanity of my loved ones played mostly when others were sleeping.
Given the season, I’ve made some personal resolutions for the coming year. Most importantly, I will strive for better work-life balance, especially following the completion of my leadership term in February. I hope to restart music lessons and also to continue my recreational reading. Like many of you, I hope to eat better and to exercise more (especially given the need to work off those holiday pie slices). Since I’m a dreamer, I’m also hoping for that long elusive Vikings Super Bowl appearance, though the pragmatist in me knows that a late collapse is far more likely.
For our Society, 2018 will also be an important year for new directions. I am thrilled that Dr. John DiPersio will succeed me as our President. John’s scientific insights, history of translational research accomplishments and his love for mentorship will serve the society well. In particular, I am certain he will strengthen the scientific impact of the Society through the quality of our meetings, collaborations and via our career development activities.
In one of the most important changes of the coming year, the ASBMT will also transition to a new association management company (AMC). For those who are unaware, our Society does not maintain an independent office, but like many other professional societies and nonprofit organizations relies instead on an AMC to facilitate its many core functions, from membership to support for our many committees, task forces and SIGS to other activities that include meeting planning and execution and communications functions (including e-News). Since 1996, the ASBMT relied on Executive Administration, Inc. (EAI) a Chicago-based firm.
In the 21 years since EAI assumed our management functions, the ASBMT has grown significantly in membership, impact and organizational complexity. In the past year, our Executive Committee and board, following input from a large number of members and partners, reassessed our management needs in light of this significant transformation. Following this careful self-reflection, we decided it was best to solicit new proposals from leading management organizations with strong experience serving as AMCs for health professional societies. Facilitated by an outside firm (Bloch and Reed) specializing in AMC transitions and relying on a task force led by ASBMT Past-President Fred LeMaistre, we narrowed a large field of possibilities to three leading firms that made in person presentations to our task force. Based on the strength of both written and oral presentations that reflected a clear understanding of our strengths and needs, our task force identified finalists that we felt could clearly meet the diverse challenges we are likely to face in upcoming years. These include an ability to address increasingly important health policy issues, to continue to improve internal and external communications and informatics capabilities and a general ability to evolve along with our Society. While our contract negotiations are not yet finalized, I am very confident that we will be able to name our new AMC by the 2018 Tandem Meetings in Salt Lake City.
What does this transition mean for our membership and our Society? First and foremost, we expect that our new AMC will bring new expertise and greater resources to address our current and future needs. Based on staffing plans submitted to our board, this transition will lead to better staffing and support for our SIGs, committees and task forces. Our new AMC will help us to complete our strategic planning process initiated this past fall and will work with all of you to define and realize a set of short- and long-term strategic goals that can further advance our field and increase the impact of the ASBMT. Finally, we expect this to improve our strategic partnerships with a broad range of organizations, including the CIBMTR, FACT, ISCT and Be the Match and other professional and scientific societies including ASH, ASCO and the ASGCT, among others.
While we hope to have our new AMC take over completely by late Spring, we ask for your patience and cooperation as some bumps will inevitably be felt in the months ahead. I am grateful for the cooperation of ASBMT Executive Director Ken Luurs and our staff members based with EAI for their gracious efforts to support this transition.
While it is unfortunately true that many resolutions will fade into unrealized aspirations, I have sincere hope for the new year and for the ASBMT. While 2017 was characterized by political uncertainty, a progressively warming climate and natural disasters that affected many of us, I hope the coming year will be characterized by peace and genuine goodwill locally and internationally. I expect we will continue to witness small and large miracles as the impact of our scientific and clinical accomplishments of ASBMT members continue to reach the patients and families we serve. The ASBMT will continue to do everything we can to facilitate your success in the coming year. I personally look forward to hearing from many of you to ensure we continue to do all we can to meet your needs in the coming months, and wish all of you and your loved ones a very healthy and happy 2018.
Best regards,
Krishna
Back to the January 2018 issue of eNews.