Dear AAPS members–
It is Friday, and I am concluding my first week as the new Executive Director of AAPS, and I cannot help but look back on the past few months. In January, when I was discussing the future of AAPS with our president and Board, China had only just alerted WHO to the presence of a pneumonia-like virus the country thought it had under control. While we are always aware in our field that new diseases can emerge at any time-sometimes very quickly-at that moment we did not know we were about to face a pandemic.
I remember February! President Joe Polli, Ph.D., and I were looking forward to celebrating with, and thanking, Dr. Alice Till for her service as InterimExecutive Director. I was excited to meet the staff and learn about the spring and summer workshops, and to start working on PharmSci 360.
Nothing went the way I expected. My onboarding this week was completely virtual. I have met all the staff and a number of leaders, but it's been in the course of discussions focused on adapting AAPS to help our members keep sharing their research and insights at a time when scientific exchange is both more difficult and more important to global health. My celebration with Alice has been delayed until a time when we can be together, face-to-face.
What has given me great energy and immediate joy this week are the following things:
- You: our members, volunteers, and volunteer leaders- you bring knowledge, passion, and commitment to our mission regardless of the circumstances! I want to give a big thank you to the Organizing Committee for our very exciting upcoming (now virtual) workshop, Drug Transporters in ADME: from Bench to Bedside. They accepted the challenge of restructuring their event to deliver an engaging program online, and have done a wonderful job building something that will help you explore this important topic. The program looks fantastic, so I hope you will join us on April 20 and 21. We are also planning something extremely current on COVID-19 and the impact of the epidemic on drug development and our field. Mark your calendars for the week of April 27-more information to come very soon. This is a fantastic effort from across AAPS to bring a great line-up of speakers to address critical issues together. I am also excited about your input into the PharmSci 360 scientific program this week-we have received many symposia and workshop proposals (more than last year!), so I very much look forward to how the final program will take shape over the next few weeks. Please do not forget to submit your poster abstracts and your award and Fellow nominations.
I also want to assure you that PharmSci 360 will happen, regardless of circumstances. AAPS is committed to our mission of convening the best science in the best way possible. In the current situation, the work of our organization could not be more vital! The event will happen. Right now, we need your input to develop the program. We are prioritizing the needs of scientists from around the world to share in this event and advance the science as we discuss our options. As I have more details about how we will deliver this program, I will share them with you.
- The AAPS staff: I could not be more impressed with how well this team is handling the waves of adjustment that the epidemic has brought to our daily lives and work situations. From taking the entire office seamlessly remote, to being ready to take our events online and virtual with the shortest notice, to making sure that our members are supported in all their activities without any interruptions. Staff has been full of great ideas on how we can bring you great scientific content and collaborative opportunities while you are more restricted than usual in your ability to work and interact. One of those new features are our eChalk Talks happening every Wednesday at 11:15 am ET. I hope you'll make them a regular part of your "new normal" routine, and if you have ideas for one of them, please do let us know!
So as I close out this week in my new role, I am just as humbled and excited by the opportunity as I was on the day it was offered to me, and I very much look forward to collaborating with you-virtually and also in person again in the future.
The world is different, but our mission-to advance the science to improve global health-is still vital.
Please be in touch!
Tina
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