A Message from the APS
President… The American Pediatric Society, organized in 1888, convened its first meeting the next year in Washington, D.C. with 43 founding members. The defined goal of the Society at inception was "the advancement of the Physiology, Pathology, and Therapeutics of Infancy and Childhood". In the intervening 110 years, not only has our membership expanded to its current level of greater than 1400 members, but our mission has been broadened as well:
Clearly, ours' is a Society in which elected membership honors and acknowledges the outstanding contributions of individuals in advancing the science and practice of pediatric academic medicine. With our colleagues in the Society for Pediatric Research and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association we sponsor the annual Pediatric Academic Societies meeting. This provides a platform for presentation of the outstanding investigative contributions of our members, and in particular, for those individuals earlier in their careers who represent, in large part, our membership of the future. But membership in the APS must represent more than merely a peer-group acknowledgement of academic excellence and an avenue for participation in the annual meeting. In the past decade, we have witnessed fundamental changes in the nature of American healthcare and in the process of its delivery. These events have impacted directly on both the institutions and practitioners of academic medicine and clearly necessitate a reexamination of the role of academic leaders in assuring the continuity and further development of collective academic goals. These challenging times demand an activism and level of participation on our part above and beyond that which we have been called upon to provide in the past. One important role for the APS to fulfill in this context is to provide its members with mechanisms by which their ideas and expertise can be implemented into organized efforts to best accomplish these aims. Your APS Officers and Councils in recent years, have made and continue to make, concerted efforts to increase the involvement of our Society within the academic community and to activate our membership through opportunities for participation in projects consistent with our overall mission. The recently established Working Groups of the APS, which past presidents Fred Battaglia and Richard Johnston have spearheaded, reflects such as effort. In a coordinated fashion, we participate with our sister societies the SPR and APA, as well as with the Association for Medical School Pediatric Department Chairman (AMSPDC), and the American Academy of Pediatrics on various multi-organizational Boards and Councils which focus on current and future pediatric research issues, on education and training concerns, and on relevant matters regarding healthcare for children. Further, through our role on the Public Policy Council with AMSPDC and the SPR, through our representation on the AAMC Council of Academic Societies and on the AAP's Council on Governmental Affairs, we participate and help shape the political agenda as it relates to academic child healthcare issues and pediatric research and training in this country. Similarly, our participation with the National Association for Biomedical Research and with Research America! makes it possible for our voice to be heard in concert with other academic research-oriented organizations. In all of these arenas, opportunities exist for the active participation of our membership. These are, indeed, challenging times, but there remains cause for optimism. On the research side, a substantial increase in NIH appropriation this year unquestionably will enhance basic research funding opportunities, including fundamental investigation directly relevant to pediatric sciences. Moreover a new series of awards, the K series, have been put in place, a direct result of the activities of the Clinical Research Panel created by NIH Director Varmus, and chaired by David Nathan, an APS member. These provide new appropriations for clinical research and training, both to young (K-23) and mid-career investigators (K-24), as well as to academic health centers sponsoring coordinated clinical research training programs (K-30). In concert with the increase in available funds, modifications in the review process for these clinical research grants have also been recommended and are in process of implementation. Assuredly, pediatric investigators and training programs should be highly competitive in pursuit of these expanded opportunities for clinical research funding. Details of these new award mechanisms can be found at the following Website: http://www.nih.gov/grants/training/kawards.htm. To conclude this message, I believe that we have entered a new era for academic medicine, with new challenges and opportunities for both individuals and institutions. Academic societies such as the APS can be an important force in meeting these challenges. This will be so, however, only if membership is informed, engaged, and participatory. The acknowledgement which each of us has received through our elected membership into this Society warrants our active involvement and participation if collective goals are to be achieved. After all, that's what the 43 founders had in mind in Washington 110 years ago. I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco in May. |