As we turn our focus to ATS 2019 in Dallas, it is a time for me to reflect on my past year as president of the Society. First, this is an amazing organization full of incredibly impassioned members and staff that truly make a difference in the world. And it has been an absolute honor and pleasure to serve as president.
If I could sum up my tenure as president in one phrase, it would be “sustainability and growth.” The other members of the Executive Committee and I have pursued and supported a number of initiatives that, hopefully, will help ensure the Society’s success for years to come. Highlights include:
- Creating a strategic framework, which will give us a methodology to set priorities and act on them.
- Making technology infrastructure improvements so members and other key audiences can interact with ATS when and how they want, and generate and share information in a manner most conducive to them.
- Putting discrimination and harassment policies into place, to help affirm ATS as a standard bearer in these critically important areas.
- Using advocacy to keep pulmonary, critical care and sleep issues at the forefront of policymakers’ agendas, both domestically and internationally.
- Dedicating new resources to implement ATS clinical practice guidelines.
- Creating an Innovation Incubator, to expand education beyond the IC and become nimble in creating and responding to opportunities.
- Supporting future generations by successful implementation of MECOR 2.0, expanding conference programming, awarding more unrestricted research grants and dedicating additional resources to ensure the research program’s future success.
These accomplishments reflect the hard work and passion of our Society. Most importantly, they will help us establish and implement new priorities, respond to the ever-changing world in which we learn, teach and provide care and, ultimately, help the world breathe. This is an exciting time at ATS, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Dallas later this month.
