Attendees who traveled to Orlando for the College’s 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting were rewarded with a truly excellent onsite experience, and Livestream attendees were engaged and impressed as well. Early comments received from attendees show tremendous appreciation for the vast amount of knowledge and talent brought together at this premier event in allergy/immunology education.
With this year’s theme of “Podium to Practice® – Inspiring Vision,” we brought together nearly 2,200 health care providers in person in Orlando and almost another 500 participants through our Livestream program. This sets a record for attendance at the meeting with on-site and Livestream combined.
I have to commend everyone who traveled to the meeting despite the late-breaking uncertainty about flights. Some of you did experience delays and challenges due to FAA mandated flight reductions and, as it turned out, weather – my wife and I included! But it seems most were able to travel relatively smoothly. The chance to experience this meeting – and connect with our colleagues – in person is compelling. I trust you found it worth the trip, as we received many highly complimentary comments on the program and speakers.
Here are some highlights from the five-day lineup of education and more:
Thursday’s full-day program kicked off the meeting. Participants enjoyed a full day dedicated to the latest science in the diagnosis and management of allergic skin conditions, including genetics, testing, and exciting new treatments. The day ended with the ever-popular ProCon debate, where experts discussed autoimmune testing in CSU and JAK inhibitors vs. biologics for AD.
Workshops provided a full spectrum of instruction and hands-on techniques in patch testing, punch versus shave biopsy, performing a rhinolaryngologic exam and SQ immunoglobulin infusion.
The meeting’s social events were a chance for attendees to relax and reconnect. The President’s Welcome reception reflected the Florida vibe with salutes to the Everglades (including a real alligator!), beautiful beaches, iconic cities and much more. And the FIT Bowl – always exciting – celebrated our FITs and the spirit of competition. Drs. Krista Shaw and Curtis Pacheco from Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center emerged as the winners after the teams battled to prove their knowledge of all things allergy by answering tough (as well as entertaining) questions.
We always have noteworthy media coverage from the Annual Scientific Meeting, and this year was no exception. News coming out of the meeting appeared in outlets such as US News and World Report, Medscape, Gizmodo, Yahoo! News and MedPage Today. Media covered topics including:
- Thunderstorm asthma
- The connection between eczema onset and duration to food allergies
- The reliability of social media coverage of allergy and asthma issues
- The effects of COVID-19 vaccine on pediatric infections
The Annual Meeting also gave us the opportunity to recognize several outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to the allergy/immunology specialty and the College. Our 2025 award recipients included:
- Gold Headed Cane: Richard W. Weber, MD, FACAAI
- Distinguished Fellows: James T. Li, MD, PhD, FACAAI and Stephen Tilles, MD, FACAAI
- International Distinguished Fellow: Mario Morais-Almeida, MD, (Current WAO President)
- Distinguished Service Awards: James M. Quinn, MD, FACAAI; M. Razi Rafeeq, MD, FACAAI; and Jennifer Pfeifer, MBA, CMPE
- Woman in Allergy Award: Anne K. Ellis, MD, MSc, FACAAI
- Executive Medical Director Award: Maureen Knight, Senior Annual Meeting Manager, ACAAI
- Education Council Award: Jerald W. Koepke, MD, FACAAI
- Clemens von Pirquet Awards: Hanna Knihtila, MD, PhD, MD (first place); Thanaporn Ratchataswan, MD (second place); and Catherine Ye, MD (third place)
- Annals Distinguished Author Awards: Charlotte Cunningham-Rundles, MD, PhD; Stephen R. Durham, MD, FRCP; and Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PhD, MPH
- Annals FIT Awards: Michael W. Tsoulis, MD, MS (first place); Victoria Thuy Nguyen, DO (second place); Chen Wang, MD (third place).
During the Annual Business Meeting on Sunday, Dr. James M. Tracy, DO, FACAAI passed the presidential gavel to Cherie Y. Zachary, MD, FACAAI for the 2025-26 year, and David R. Stukus, MD, FACAAI rose to President-elect. Maureen M. Petersen, MD, FACAAI was elected Vice President, and Melinda M. Rathkopf, MD, MBA, FACAAI was elected Treasurer.
Drs. Christopher Chang, Mitchell Grayson and Jay Lieberman were elected to the Board of Regents. In addition, Dr. Afia B. Adu-Gyamfi was elected by our Fellows-in-Training as the Junior FIT Representative on the Board. Dr. Amber Hardeman, last year’s Junior FIT Representative, became the Senior FIT Representative.
Plenary sessions held throughout the week featured a distinguished lineup of experts who addressed allergy/immunology issues.
- Presidential Plenary – The Future of Allergy and Immunology Therapeutics: Looking Over the Horizon – This year’s Presidential Plenary featured Drs. James M. Tracy, Thomas B. Casale, Raffi Tachdjian and Jonathan Phillips, and presented the latest in monoclonals, the importance of the small molecule, and cutting-edge applications of CRISPR, mRNA and beyond.
- Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters Severe Asthma Update – This session looked at the new practice parameter, including patient values and preferences, long-term risks of oral steroids, and a review of biologics at the Edward J. O’Connell Lecture by Dr. Giselle Mosnaim.
- Drug Allergies Demystified: Practical Approaches for Accurate Diagnosis and Management – Attendees learned about nuts and bolts of drug allergy evaluation; treatments for delayed hypersensitivity reactions; and practical approaches to adverse reactions to biologics and monoclonals. Dr. Rohit Katial presented the Bela Schick Lecture on making sense of AI in clinical medicine.
View photos of some of the highlights of the meeting!
All Annual Meeting registrants, whether they attended in person or participated via Livestream, will have access to our On Demand program at no charge for general meeting sessions. The On Demand program content will be available in the next few weeks and will provide viewers with the ability to view and obtain credit for more than 50 hours of presentations.
The Annual Meeting Program Committee met to start the evaluation of the meeting. A huge “thank you” goes to Dr. Kristin Sokol (Program Chair) for her amazing leadership of this year’s meeting. Also, many thanks to Dr. Shahzad Mustafa (Vice Chair) and the members of the committee.
Save the dates for next year’s Annual Meeting, Nov. 12-16 in Phoenix, AZ.
