SUS Secretary Report from the ASC
Cristina Ferrone, MD
SUS Highlights from the 2018 ASC
Thank you for making the 13th Annual Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) a tremendous success. The Society of University Surgeons met in Jacksonville in the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront on the St. Johns River. This was the first event for the hotel after being flooded and severely damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Despite concerns over the damage incurred by the hurricane, the ASC brought in 1844 academic surgeons and trainees, which is 300 more than two years ago in Jacksonville. We had 1406 abstracts presented, 16 Plenary sessions, 356 Oral presentations, 1034 Quickshot presentations, and 121 manuscripts submitted.
The success of this year’s meeting is due to the diligence of Dr. Rebekah R. White, SUS Publications Committee Chair, AAS Recorder, Dr. Eugene S. Kim, the ASC Core Committee, the entire SUS Publications and AAS Program Committees, and the BSC Staff. They began their work shortly after the 2017 meeting and assembled an excellent program.
Day 3: Thursday, February 1, 2018
The morning was off to a great start with the ASC Fun Run at 6:15am. Dr. Riall declared that the first session should be attended in your running clothes. The morning continued with 18 parallel oral presentations.
The SUS research awardees presented their research to the SUS leadership at a special session. The presenters included:
2016-2017 SUS Resident Scholar Award Winner
Dani O. Gonzalez, MD, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Randomized Controlled Trial of a Rapid Learning Healthcare System (RLHS) in Pediatric Surgery
2016-2017 SUS Junior Faculty Award Winner
Ankit Bharat, MD, Northwestern University, Tissue-Restricted Humoral Autoimmunity Lead to Lung Allograft Rejection
It was great to visit with the representatives from our sister societies and the SUS awardees at the AAS/SUS Research Awards Session.
The Basic Science session “So you want to be a Surgeon-Scientist: How to Succeed in Today’s Environment” was well attended despite a significant decline in basic science and translational research in surgery.
Two Hot Topic sessions again ran in parallel during the lunch hour. “Integrated Residencies and Early Specialization Programs: a Threat to General Surgery Training or Innovative Approaches to Surgical Education” competed with “Making Research Feasible for Busy Surgeons through Infrastructure Support: Pros, Cons, and Lessons Learned the Hard Way”. The afternoon and meeting concluded with 18 parallel Quick Shot sessions.
In Summary
Attending the ASC provides so many networking opportunities not only with surgeons and trainees around the country, but also international members.
Our sister society guests:
● BJS Lecturer (SUS)
o Professor Graeme Poston DSc FRCS
● European Society for Surgical Research (SUS)
o ESSR Board Member: Lisa Rancan, MD
o ESSR Brendel Prize Winner: Wolfgang Jungraithmayr, MD
● Society of Academic & Research Surgery (SUS)
o SARS Programme Chair: Frank CT Smith BSc MSc MD FRCS FEBVS FHEA
o SARS Patey Prize Winner: Oliver Lyons MRCS PhD
● Surgical Research Society of Southern Africa (SUS)
o SRS of SA Chair: Esmé le Grange, MD
o SRS of SA Sceales Antrobus Prize Representative: Tanya N. Augustine, MD, PhD
● Japan Surgical Society (SUS)
o JSS Chairman of the International Society: Takao Ohki, MD, PhD
o JSS Top Abstract Prize Winner: Tomohiko Adachi, MD, PhD
● Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (SUS)
o SRS: James Lee MBBS FRACS PhD
The Constitutional change voted upon at the SUS Business Meeting was that Active membership has been extended to the age of fifty-five.
New Officer Positions
Councilor-At-Large for Scholarship (2018-2021) Dr. Rebekah White
Foundation President (2018-2019) Dr. George Yang
President-Elect (2018-2019) Dr. Gregory Kennedy
A heartfelt thank you to the following members for their hard-work, dedication and service.
- Dr. Dai Chung for his leadership of the Foundation and the Capital Campaign over the past five years.
- Dr. Timothy Donahue for his service as Councilor-at-Large and leading the Scholarship Committee.
- Dr. Evan Nadler as the NABR Representative.
- Dr. Gretchen Schwarze as Ethics and Conflict of Interest Chair.
- Dr. Rebekah White as Publications Committee Chair and ASC Program Chair.
- Dr. Gregory Kennedy as Secretary.
- Dr. Taylor Riall as President.
A very heartfelt special thank you to SUS Executive Director Yumi Hori and AAS Executive Director Christina Kasendorf, and the entire BSC staff. They are the humble experts behind the scenes providing endless guidance and executing all the details.
In summary, the 13th annual meeting of the ASC was a great success and provided a forum for academic surgeons, trainees and students to meet and share ideas. The meeting continues to grow and we hope to perpetuate this momentum. To that end, we hope that you will plan to join us in 2019 for the 14th annual Academic Surgical Congress in Houston, TX February 5-7, 2019. More information can be found at www.academicsurgicalcongress.org. All the best to everyone and please continue to submit your best work to the ASC.
Congratulations to all the presenters for their outstanding work! For more information on the SUS Resident Best Presentation Award winners, click here.
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