President’s Message April 2018
Dear Friends and Fellow Hepatophiles:
It is an honor to serve as President of the Hans Popper society following the footsteps of illustrious mentors and colleagues who have shepherded the society over the years. Thanks to Mike Torbenson for the outstanding leadership in the last two years.
It has been an eventful last couple of years for the Society. The reception that started off as a one-time tribute to Dr. Popper has now become a regular annual event, facilitating the members to interface with each other and grow as a society. Kudos to Isabel Fiel for the flawless organization of the receptions. Apart from the wonderful reception, the excellent companion society meeting contributed to the Society’s success during the recent USCAP meeting.
Another new endeavor this year was a membership survey on the use of special stains in liver biopsies. The results were presented at the reception and are available on the website. More practice-based surveys are planned for this year with the hope that the information will help members to be cognizant of the spectrum of practice in our field, enabling discussions and improvement in our respective practices.
The executive committee has also proposed a plan to publish guidelines/best practices articles on behalf of the society. The proposed guidelines for this endeavor have been posted on the website. Please review and provide your feedback in the comment region.
In keeping with the social media movement, the Society now has a Twitter handle. Thanks to Dora Lam-Himlin, our website committee chair, for enabling our entry into the digital age.
There are a lot of interesting posts on Twitter regarding events related to liver pathology and we currently have more than 200 followers. If you are at a national or international liver meeting, you can share new advances and ‘pearls’ with fellow members by posting on Twitter. Join the Twiterrati and become active hepatotweeps.
The academic presence of the Society will widen beyond the USCAP meeting with a joint session by Hans Popper Society and European Digestive Diseases working group at the 2018 European Society of Pathology meeting. We hope that this collaboration will continue in the future and our Society will have a regular presence at international meetings.
The society is engaged in several member-centric activities such as Journal Watch, Case of the Month and quarterly newsletters. If you are interested to contribute to these activities, join one of the committees, or would like to share ideas or feedback, please contact the committee chairs or any of the executive committee members. Your involvement is key to the success of the Society and I look forward to working with all of you in the coming year.
Regards,
Sanjay Kakar, MD
President, Hans Popper Society