Message from the President
As your outgoing President, I am pleased to report that the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association has never been stronger. The 7th World Congress in Edinburgh with James Garden as Congress Chairman was outstanding. When my presidency began two years ago, I defined ten goals for the IHPBA:
To increase membership to 1,500
To conduct a membership survey
To complete a strategic planning process
To redefine the vision and mission
To strengthen ties with the Regional Associations and National Chapters
To improve the official journal HPB
To continue funding for the Warren Fellowship
To establish a fellowship training registry
To consolidate international meetings
To document the association's history
As I turned over the presidency to Markus Büchler last month in Edinburgh, the majority of these goals had been achieved while only a few were still in process.
With respect to membership growth continues, and our roles are expected to reach an all time high at the end of this year. More importantly, a Member Survey was undertaken in February, 2005, and the results were published in my Presidential Report “International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association: Who Are We And Where Are We Going?” in August, 2006 (HPB Volume 8, Number 4, 2006). This Report documents our members’ ages, gender, region, education, training, specialty and practice setting. In addition, members’ opinions were obtained on the IHPBA's current services and our official journal as well as methods to enhance education, research, training and patient care.
The results of the Members’ Survey were used by the IHPBA Council during a Strategic Planning Meeting in Heidelberg in May 2005. From that meeting a new vision was developed: “The IHPBA will be the premiere international organization devoted to relief of worldwide human suffering caused by hepato-pancreato-biliary disorders by improving education, training, innovation, and patient care.” In addition, a new Mission statement, five Principles and 15 Objectives to guide the new leadership over the next few years were developed (see HPB Volume 8, Number 4, 2006) for details.
During my Presidency, an Agreement was signed in 2005 with the AHPBA providing all members with HPB and the Regional Association a share of the journal's profits. Similarly, an Agreement was signed with the EHPBA in 2006 to further share the journal's profits. In addition, the EHPBA became incorporated in Germany in 2005 and has taken significant steps toward financial independence. Moreover, the A-PHPBA is in the process of being incorporated in Hong Kong and of holding its first Regional Congress in Japan in 2007. Another key development has been the emergence of multiple National Chapters in all three regions.
The official journal, HPB, has clearly improved during the past two years. In 2004 a new Editor, James Toouli, was appointed. With your support he has been able to publish excellent original articles and review papers, and in 2006 (Volume 8) HPB went from four to six issues per year. In addition, for the first time in 2005, HPB became profitable. With the AHPBA HPBAgreement orchestrated by our Treasurer, Wright Pinson, circulation topped 1,500 and continues to grow.
The Warren Fellowship also continues to flourish. Each of the first five Warren Fellows has performed outstanding research in the host/mentor's laboratory. This year seven outstanding applications were received, and the Warren family made the judgment that this research fellowship should continue. To achieve this goal, an IHPBA Kenneth Warren Foundation was established in July, 2006. As the foundation's first President, you will be hearing more from me about how you can contribute.
In January, 2006 an HPB Fellowship Registry was established on the IHPBA's website (www.ihpba.org). When this message was written, 56 fellowships in 18 countries were registered including 21 in the Americas, 17 in the Asia/Pacific region and 18 in Europe. In addition, the IHPBA's Education and Training Committee and Council endorsed the “Requirements for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Training” in Edinburgh. This key document will appear on the website later this year. The next step in fulfilling the IHPBA's mission to “advance HPB specific training” will be to work with the Regional Associations and National Chapters to develop a worldwide accreditation process.
The issue of consolidating international meetings was addressed in the Members’ Survey, at the Strategic Planning Meeting and in discussions with the leadership of another international digestive surgery association. The conclusion was reached that the current arrangements to hold the IHPBA World Congress in even years and the Regional Congresses in odd years achieves this goal. Finally, plans are being made to document the first 30 years of the association's history in an HPB supplement (Volume 10) in 2008.
Again, thank you for the honor of serving as your president.
Henry A. Pitt
President 2004–2006, IHPBA
A-P HPBA Update
As the founding President of A-PHPBA, I have the great honor to announce the foundation of the new regional association of IHPBA and the historical development of the A-PHPBA, shifting from the Asian Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery (ASHBPS). This regional association joins the AHPBA and EHPBA under the umbrella of the IHPBA.
This society is founded with a view to letting Asian-Pacific HPB specialists gather together to share their experience and ideas and fostering mutual understanding. The APHPBA also encourages young colleagues to improve and further their scientific work in practice and future medical care.
The 9th meeting of Asian HBP surgeons (First Congress of A-PHPBA) will be held on March 21–23, 2007 in Fukuoka, Japan, chaired by Professor Masao Tanaka. This meeting will be a memorable embarkation of the Asian-Pacific Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (A-PHPBA).
We look forward to welcoming you in March, 2007 in Fukuoka, Japan for a most successful event to exchange our knowledge as well as strengthen our friendship through this meeting. We are pleased to announce that The First Biennial Congress of the Asian-Pacific Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association 2007 FUKUOKA, JAPAN has started to accept pre-registration and abstract submission on the web site. Please visit: http://www.congre.co.jp/1st-aphpba/. The deadline of the abstract submission is October 31, 2006
A-P HPBA Officers and councilors
President: Tadahiro Takada (Japan)
President-elect: James Toouli (Australia)
Chairman of Nominating Committee: WY Joseph Lau (Hong Kong)
Secretary: Xiao-Ping Chen (China)
Secretary-elect: Masatoshi Makuuchi (Japan)
Treasurer: Palepu Jagannath (India)
Chairman of Scientific Committee: Sheung-Tat Fan (Hong Kong)
Vice-Chairman of Scientific Committee: Masao Tanaka (Japan)
Member-at Large: Serafin Hilvano (Philippines)
Sung-Gyu Lee (Korea)
Vibul Sachakul (Thailand)
Harjit Singh (Malaysia)
Miin-Fu Chen (Taiwan)
John A Windor (New Zealand)
Kui Hin Liau (Singapore)
Benny Philippi (Indonesia)
We are working on the incorporation of the A-PHPBA in Hong Kong.
Tadahiro Takada
President, A-PHPBA
EHPBA Update
The EHPBA Council and members would like to congratulate the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association and the Congress Chairman James Garden with the outstanding 7th World Congress in Edinburgh. Many EHPBA members participated actively and had the opportunity to highlight the scientific quality of European HPB surgery. During that meeting, Markus Büchler took over the presidency from Henry Pitt.
We would like to thank Henry Pitt not only for his enormous dedication to the IHPBA during the past years but also for his active role in the development of excellent IHPBA/EHPBA relations. He has stimulated the development of the Regional Associations towards a mature and independent organisation and arranged the concept of the financial support from the “mother association”. This strategy was very helpful for the EHPBA to get organised. After the agreement regarding the journal HPB with the AHPBA two years ago, he also facilitated the possibility for the other Regional Associations to participate in the journal and last year an agreement between the IHPBA and EHPBA was established.
We also would like to acknowledge the development of the HPB Fellowship Registry and concept for HPB specific training. This development will be an important topic within the EHPBA for the next years and has already been discussed with the Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS) during the Edinburgh meeting.
After the successful meeting of the EHPBA in Heidelberg last year, the first preparations are being made for the upcoming 7th EHPBA meeting in Verona (June 8–9, 2007). The Scientific Committee of the EHPBA chaired by Andrea Frilling, together with the Congress Chairman Claudio Bassi, has already prepared an outstanding first concept of the scientific programme. The location, Verona in Italy, also guarantees a very attractive social program.
Christos Dervenis is already looking carefully to Claudio Bassi to further improve the scientific quality after Verona for the 8th EHPBA to be held in Athens in 2009. Since the number of the national chapters from Africa is increasing, we are looking forward to visit the south part of our Regional Association within the next few years for our regional meeting.
The EHPBA is following the development guided by the IHPBA leadership and is doing well. The EHPBA should serve as a unique platform in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for the development of HPB surgery, science and teaching of the HPB fellows. Hopefully, we will be able to combine these regional activities in the future within the frame of the IHPBA.
Thank you for serving as your president,
Dirk J. Gouma
President, EHPBA
AHPBA Update
The AHPBA will be hosting its 11th annual meeting and 6th Americas Congress in Las Vegas at the Bally's Resort Hotel from April 19–22, 2007. This will be the second time that our organization will hold a joint meeting with SAGES; the first joint meeting in 2005 was extremely successful with over 400 participants. The postgraduate course is on “Benign Pancreatic Diseases” and will be held on Thursday, April 19th. There will be three jointly sponsored sessions with SAGES that will draw on the combined expertise of the two organizations: 1) Ablation Technologies; 2) The Evaluation and Staging of Pancreatic Neoplasms; and 3) an evening video session.
We anticipate this upcoming meeting to be as educational and successful as our previous meeting with SAGES. However, the success of this meeting depends very much on international attendees. One third of all content presented at our last two meetings was from international presenters and 1/3 of attendees were from outside the United States. Hence, we strongly encourage members of the IHPBA to attend and submit material for presentation at this joint meeting that will help make it as successful as in the past. Videos and/or abstracts can be submitted by way of our website at AHPBA.org. The deadline for submission is Oct 15. The leadership of the AHPBA looks forward to seeing you in Las Vegas in April of 2007 as well as next month in Edinburgh.
The AHPBA also wishes to inform members of the IHPBA about the availability of two AHPBA Research Awards of $30,000 each this upcoming year. The purpose of these awards is to provide the opportunity for a resident or fellow to spend one to two years in full-time research in the laboratory of an AHPBA member. Residents or fellows who have completed at least two years of post-graduate training in a surgical discipline are eligible to apply. The research can be clinical or basic science but must focus on the liver, pancreas, or biliary tree. The deadline for these research grant submissions is September 30, 2006. Full details of the submission process are available via our website at AHPBA.org.
W. Scott Helton
Secretary, AHPBA
Russell Strong – HPB Medallion
During the IHPBA's World Congress in Edinburgh, Dr Russell Strong was awarded the 3rd HPB medallion, the IHPBA's distinguished service award. Dr Strong received his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 1965 from the University of London and went on to establish the first liver transplant programme in Australia (1985) and to perform the first successful living related liver transplant in the world (1989). Dr Strong is currently the Medical Director of ‘Queenslanders Donate’- a division of the Queensland Health Department, which aims to provide a structured and consistent approach to organ and tissue donation.
IHPBA Kenneth Warren Foundation
The IHPBA leadership is pleased to announce the creation of the IHPBA Kenneth Warren Foundation, which was incorporated in July 2006. After reviewing the first five years of the Warren Fellowship, Tom and George Warren, Ken's sons, decided to continue to support the Fellowship with an initial goal of creating a corpus in the foundation which would produce enough funds to support the salary of two Warren Fellows each year. Tom Warren and his two sons, Matt and Brad, attended the World Congress in Edinburgh to announce their plan.
IHPBA is pleased to award Dr. Stefano Crippa, currently working in the Department of Surgery at the University of Verona, the Warren Fellowship 2006 –07. His research project on the molecular genetics of cystic neoplasms of the pancreas, including IPMN, will be performed at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, under the direction of Dr. Carlos Fernandez del Castillo. The Warren Fellowship Committee had the difficult task of selecting a recipient from 7 high quality applications.
New Research Committee
We are pleased to announce the creation of a new committee within the IHPBA. With a special mandate to address topics surrounding HPB research, this committee will be known as the IHPBA Research Committee and will include membership from all regions. The aim of this committee is to investigate the challenges facing HPB researchers and to develop tools with which the organisation can assist those conducting or wishing to conduct research in HPB disease. The committee will primarily facilitate existing and proposed research projects around the world. This new committee was ratified during the General Assembly in Edinburgh.
Regional Meetings & World Congresses
Regional Congresses
A-PHPBA, 1st Asian-Pacific Congress
Fukuoka, Japan
March 21–23, 2007
Chairman: Dr. Maseo Tanaka
Secretariat: Congress Corporation
5F, 1-9-17 Tenjin Chuo-ku
Fukuoka 810-0001 Japan
Tel: +81 92 716 7116
Fax: +81 92 716 7143
E-mail: 1st-aphpba@congre.co.jp
Website: www.congre.co.jp/1st-aphpba
AHPBA, 6thAmericas Congress
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 20-April 23, 2007
Chairman: Dr. Sean Mulvihill
Secretariat: BSC Management
Suite 600, 11300 Olympic Blvd.
90064 Los Angeles, CA, USA
E-mail: info@bscmanage.com
Website: www.aphba.org
EHPBA, 7thEuropean Congress
Verona, Italy
June 8–9, 2007
Chairman: Prof. Claudio Bassi
Secretariat: Everywhere s.r.l.
Corso Porta Nuova 2
37122 Verona, Italy
Tel: +39 045 800 4114
Fax: +39 045 597 347
E-mail: info@everywheretravel.it
Website: www.everywheretravel.it
World Congresses
8thIHPBA World Congress
Mumbai, India
February 27 – 2 March, 2008
Chairman: Dr. Palepu Jagannath, Chairman, Dept of Surgical Onclogy, Lilavati Hospital
Secretariat: 22 Alka, 15th Road
Santacruz-W
400 054 Mumbai, India
Tel: +91 22 2640 6841
Fax: +91 22 2640 6841
E-mail: drjagannath@gmail.com
jagannath@vsnl.com
9thIHPBA World Congress
Buenos Aires, Argentina
2010
Chairman: Prof. Eduardo de Santibanes
Tel: +54 11 4981 4501
E-mail: Eduardo.desantibanes@hospitalitaliano.org.ar
IHPBA Executive Secretariat
Should you have any questions about IHPBA events, programmes or membership, please contact Ms Jenny Rasmussen at the IHPBA Executive Secretariat. Please remember to note your membership number when paying your dues.
IHPBA Executive Secretariat
Medconnect GmbH
Bruennsteinstr 10
81541 Munich
Germany
Tel: +49 89 4141 9249
Fax: +49 89 4141 9245
E-Mail: ihpba@medc.de
Website: www.ihpba.org