I remember as a child hearing from my parents that time would speed up as I got older. Turns out they were right. It is hard to believe that it was almost 12 months ago that I became ACAAI president. Usually in these types of columns, the president recaps his/her accomplishments over the past year and wishes the organization continued success. I most certainly do wish the College all possible future success, and I fully realize and embrace that my role in this has been a very small piece, when put into the context of the organization and those great leaders who have gone before me and will succeed me in this presidential role. So, I will take this opportunity to share my perspective of the state of the College, where we are headed, and who has – and will – lead us to continued success in the future.
First, I want to thank you, the membership, for allowing me the honor of ministering in College leadership over the past 19 years. It began with an invitation from then President Michael Blaiss, MD, FACAAI to serve as editor-in-chief of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. I served as a member of the Board of Regents and officer, culminating in being your president this past year. This journey has allowed me to have had a small influence on the College performance in the past and on the strategic direction we are taking for the future. Truly, it has been an honor of a lifetime.
Our greatest lasting strengths are embodied in those who work (often behind the scenes) to promote the health and vitality of the College. This begins with our extraordinary staff led by Rick Slawny, our Executive Director, and the incredible team that he has built to serve us. I cannot name them all here but intend to do so at our upcoming Boston meeting. Along with our professional staff, the College established the office of Executive Medical Director as a stabilizing force who knows the workings of the College and provides continuity between the College leadership and the staff. Our current EMD is Todd Mahr, MD, FACAAI, who has been incredibly supportive of me and the College overall. He has become a trusted advisor with strong institutional memory. We are all blessed to have him in this role.
College presidents come and go each year. Each of us has our presidential initiatives based upon our vision to make the College stronger and better for our membership. Immediate Past President Kathleen May, MD, FACAAI and I partnered in a two-year initiative that is designed to bring academic programs and their faculty together in educational and research venues to assist our fellowship training programs, increase the influence of allergy/immunology in medical schools that do not have a fellowship training program or even a full-time allergist (CAPE Program®), and provide research opportunities for community-based, real world studies conducted by an academic-community investigator process (CA2PER).
There are so many continuing successes in our College that space does not allow me to mention. We have phenomenal advocacy for us as members, our patients and our specialty through our Advocacy Council. We have our upcoming annual meeting in Boston (October 24-28), which I believe will be our best meeting yet. Our membership gets younger and more diverse every year. Our leadership development program has been incredibly successful, with more and more young members taking positions of leadership in committees, councils and even on our Board of Regents. This provides an important complement to the perspectives of more seasoned leaders. In short, the College is vibrant, growing and very healthy thanks in large part to your support.
So, as the page on this year’s College life turns, and I hand the reins to Jim Tracy, DO, FACAAI at the end of our Boston meeting, I am so very proud and thankful to know that I am part of the best professional organization for the practicing allergist/immunologist in the world – the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
