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SMRU President's Message
Robert Brannigan, M.D.
Greetings, fellow SMRU Members. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Spring issue of the SMRU newsletter. Two-thousand and eight was an outstanding year for our organization; and we look forward to continued success in
2009. I am sure I echo the sentiments of other SMRU members in observing that our meeting this past November in San
Francisco was fantastic. The scientific and educational programs were brimming with novel insights and innovative reports; and several of those sessions will be highlighted in this issue of the newsletter. The social program was also very enjoyable, providing old friends valuable time to catch up, and new acquaintances an opportunity to forge friendships.
I would like to personally welcome our new SMRU Board members and thank those who continue in their service. They are Nancy Brackett, PhD, who is our new President-Elect, and Edward D. Kim, MD, who was elected to the position of Secretary/Treasurer. Jay Sandlow, MD, is now our Past-President. Paul J. Turek, MD is our new Member-at-Large, joining Gail Prins, PhD and Natan Bar-Chama, MD. Erma Drobnis, PhD is our new Membership Chair, and we are eager for her leadership and efforts in broadening the ranks of our membership. Susan Benoff, PhD continues her tireless work as Chair of the SMRU Traveling Scholars Program. Finally, Moshe Wald, MD has done outstanding work keeping us all updated
as our SMRU Newsletter Editor.
We recently returned from the ASRM Board of Directors meeting in Charleston, SC; and I am pleased to report that the ASRM is doing very well. The SMRU is well represented on the ASRM Board, highlighting the fact that SMRU members share in the important responsibility of leading the ASRM. Dale McClure, MD is doing an outstanding job as current ASRM President. Rebecca Sokol, MD, MPH serves as an ASRM Director-at-Large, and Nancy Brackett, PhD joins me in representing the SMRU on the ASRM Board. Stuart Howards, MD is Treasurer of the ASRM Board of Directors; and he has done a great job in helping to navigate the ASRM through these challenging economic times. I would like to congratulate and thank all of the above individuals for their involvement and commitment to the leadership of the ASRM.
Finally, I would like to congratulate and encourage you to support Dorrie Lamb, PhD, as she was recently nominated for the position of ASRM Vice President.
Planning is well underway for the 2009 Annual Meeting. The SMRU postgraduate course is being chaired by Nancy Brackett, PhD, and is entitled, "Male Reproduction in 2009: New Clinical and Scientific Paradigms". Faculty will include Trevor Cooper, PhD, Dolores Lamb, PhD, and Dana Ohl, MD. The interactive session entitled, "Treatment of Male
Testosterone Deficiency During and After the Reproductive Years" is being chaired by Abe Morgentaler, MD and co-presented by Larry Lipshultz, MD. Three mini-symposia are scheduled, including "Testosterone and Cardiovascular Disease: The Chicken or the Egg?" by Edward Kim, MD; "Future Directions in Andrology Training" by Joel Marmar, MD,
and "Gender Differences in the Impact of Environmental Toxins on Reproductive Health" by Susan Benoff, PhD. Finally, the Bruce Stewart Lecture will be presented by Bob Oates, MD, and is entitled, "The Genetics of Male Infertility".
We are grateful for the outstanding assistance provided by Ms. Jil Clowers to the SMRU over the last several years. Jil has helped on numerous projects, including SMRU member recruitment, newsletters, and meeting logistics. Thank you, Jil! We are delighted to welcome Ms. Susanna Scarbrough, our new SMRU liaison, as she will be assuming Jil's duties.
I want to personally thank Ms. Angelia Pitman and the ASRM for their assistance in the SMRU website renovation,
which is currently underway. We look for the new website to have enhanced navigation features, with easier access to valuable SMRU and ASRM content, as well as an updated overall appearance.
In closing, The SMRU Traveling Scholars Donor Fund was initiated two years ago by Rebecca Sokol, MD, MPH and promoted again last year by Jay Sandlow, MD. This fund has helped to support the attendance of promising, motivated young scholars at the ASRM meeting each year since its inception. I would encourage each of you to consider supporting this very worthwhile program. I encounter former Traveling Scholars on a regular basis at scientific meetings throughout the year; and they routinely go out of their way to stress how beneficial this program has been to their career development. Now more than ever, I encourage you to consider supporting this very important fund. Details are enclosed inside this newsletter.
Thank you for your continued support of the SMRU.
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