Message from the President, July 2019 

Louise E. Wilkins-Haug, MD, PhD

The 2019 ISPD Conference in Singapore is just around the corner – 7-11 September. An exciting group of international speakers and debaters will present the latest advances and consider the controversies around existing practices. See the online program for details! Be sure to visit new highlights such as the collaboration corner – a dedicated space in the exhibition hall for speakers and the audience to gather after sessions for ongoing discussion. The collaboration corner will also be equipped with poster boards with more information on collaborative studies. Submit a collaboration poster here to spread the word about your study and recruit new collaborators.

ISPD’s Board initiative, “Engaging the Next Generation,” is proud to announce conference scholarships have been awarded to three early career professionals – Masoud Zamani Esteki (Maastricht University Medical Center), Liesbeth Vossaert (Baylor College of Medicine) and Joe Shaw (NE Thames Regional Genetics Laboratory) who will be speaking in the Best Early Career Investigator Plenary. Also, for trainees from Asian countries, meeting scholarships are available at the time of registration. Are you a trainee but not a member? Do work with trainees? Complimentary ISPD membership is available to trainees for the duration of their training. Stay tuned for a dedicated early career resource website available in August!

For those not able to visit the welcoming and lovely city of Singapore, you may attend the Special Interest Group meetings via Zoom (or listen to the recordings online after the meeting); look for the August/September issue of Global Updates for meeting highlights. If we don’t see you in Singapore, we hope to see you next year in Montreal, 16-19 June 2020!