From the Chair

Impressive Scientific Program Is Meeting’s Main Attraction
New Orlando Venue Hosts Pediatric Annual Meeting Nov. 29-Dec.2

I feel a sense of irony as I sit down to write my first note to you. Four short years ago I was trying to put a meeting back together after events had torn at New York City’s soul. I cannot tell you what it meant to me when Tom Luerssen, in his chairman’s message, asked you to consider attending that year’s meeting in New York. He listed many reasons, but at the core was his belief that New York needed our support. You responded with record attendance. I will always remain indebted to you for your support. Unfortunately, events have conspired to challenge us again. This time Jerry Oakes’ careful plans for a meeting on the Gulf Coast have been destroyed by a storm of unimaginable intensity. An entire region lies devastated.

Golf/Spa Resort Preserves Meeting, Offers Ample Amenities
Again, the Executive Committee met by phone within days of the event. While the question lay before us as to the viability of this year’s meeting, we all felt it important to try. Because of rapid work on the part of Jen Wolff and her associates at our Chicago headquarters, a venue was found close enough to allow much of the planned program to be preserved. So now, much as Tom did four years ago, I ask you to consider supporting our organization by attending what promises to be a very exciting meeting.

I have seen Dr. Oakes’ proposed scientific program, and it is an exciting one. Seventy-eight platform presentations have been invited, representing one of the largest collections of juried papers on pediatric neurosurgery that will be presented this year anywhere in the world. We will hear about the work of Ben Warf, MD, in Uganda, and our Raimondi lecturer will speak of exploring the Antarctic. We will have the evenings to renew our friendships and coffee breaks to see the latest in technologies. Our families will be housed in a new golf resort with a spa just five minutes from Disney World, all for just $169 per night.

Pediatric Section’s Agenda Articulated
I also look forward to this meeting as the inauguration of my tenure as your chair. I see several challenges before the Pediatric Section:

• We have many young, talented members who want to actively participate in the business of the organization. At present we have no mechanism for leadership development. I have asked our committee chairs to work with me on rectifying this.



• Many in our organization have either participated in educational endeavors outside of North America or have expressed a desire to do so. Meanwhile, over the past several years courses in Central and South America have been sponsored by the European Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. I feel that the Pediatric Section should consider supporting, on some level, the education of neurosurgeons in pediatric neurosurgery throughout the Americas, North, Central and South.



• Several academic services around the country have been unable to fill junior faculty positions with fellowship-trained pediatric neurosurgeons. The section will need to consider working with other organizations to foster the interest of trainees in the field of pediatric neurosurgery and encourage their enrollment in certified pediatric neurosurgery fellowships.

I am blessed in having a strong Executive Committee, and I am anxious to work with its members to address these issues and others that you may feel important. I look forward to greeting you in Orlando and to the next two years as your chair.