President's Welcome

It is a privilege to serve as the President of the ASIP for 2024-2025. Having been a member of the ASIP for over 24 years, I have appreciated the importance of a society like ours in shaping the discipline of pathobiology through contributions to scientific dissemination and exchange, networking and career development. Being an academic physician researching cellular and molecular basis of human liver disease, I have felt the mission, the tenets, and the values of the ASIP resonate with me and many fellow investigators. The community that the ASIP has built goes well beyond investigative pathology and is connected by the common ideals of “pursuing scientific truths, generating new knowledge, and expanding understanding of human diseases to eventually rid the world of unnecessary suffering from disease.” During my term as ASIP President, I will work diligently on behalf of our membership and with the ASIP staff and committees to ensure that the ASIP delivers its functions and mission, remains financially solvent, and continues to gain consistent stability in its structure and organization to ensure society’s longevity, impact, and effectiveness. The focus of my term will be to help identify and deliver priorities for society of our size while ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all our action plans. 

A major emphasis during my term would be to enhance the scientific impact of the ASIP. The ASIP has provided effective platforms for scientific exchange via meetings and scientific dissemination through publications. As we have recovered from COVID, we have battled with rising costs of hosting annual or topical meetings. The cessation of Experimental Biology meetings, access of our members to multiple other competing meetings and venues, and limited availability of funds to investigators and trainees to travel to meetings, have all impacted growth of the ASIP annual meeting. We will work towards regaining robustness and vibrance at our annual meetings which have been a major community-building and networking event for our members. We are currently in the phase of experimenting with a standalone meeting model, meeting with a few like-minded societies and guest societies, and even hosting thematic meetings to increase impact and vitality of our meetings in a financially responsible manner. I will solicit ideas from the membership and various committees to ensure the ASIP annual meetings continue to be a memorable event scientifically, intellectually, and socially. 

ASIP publications have been an impactful way of communicating and disseminating science in the discipline of experimental pathobiology for almost a century. While we have continued to evolve in our content based on innovations in the field and timeliness of concepts, our core values at The American Journal of Pathology (or simply The AJP) have been consistent to published high quality studies in the mechanisms of disease. In 2025, we will be celebrating the centennial for The AJP. Several solicited articles will recap the impact our journal has had on the field of disease pathogenesis, diagnostics, and therapeutics as well as how The AJP has been integral to the success of our society and society membership. During my term, I would stay highly engaged with The AJP to ensure they are provided the needed resources and support as well as any necessary feedback as publication models and associated financial implications are rapidly evolving. I will also engage our membership to seek input on content of The AJP, and helping identify ways to promote our members to publish in The AJP as its impact has become widely recognized and appreciated by all scientific community-at-large. 

The community of experimental pathobiologists has dwindled universally. The divide between clinical service and fundamental research has deepened and is sadly visible at most academic centers. Sustainable research at academic institutions has become more challenging with limited NIH funding and shrinking support from clinical operations. The ASIP has felt the impact of this drop in our membership and participation, which has had a financial impact as well. However, the ASIP leadership composed of an eclectic and dynamic group, remains confident in our community and collective impact of our society. ASIP leadership and staff continues to work with resolve to build our membership through conventional means as well as by more personalized methods like the member-to-member campaigns, leveraging scientific interest groups, national meetings, journals, focus on early stage investigators and advanced trainees, and hosting thematic meetings to attract more members. A major focus of my term as president will be to work with the ASIP staff and leaders to improve our overall membership through innovative ways of engagement while showcasing our strengths in science, collaborations, sense of community, career development, and publications. 

I look forward to working on behalf of the entire ASIP membership to promote human health while focusing on community-building, transparency, and prioritizing our focus and resources on key aforementioned areas to ensure our sustainability and impact.

For those interested in the history of ASIP, read the fascinating, “History of The American Society for Investigative Pathology 1976-2013,” compiled and written by Mark Sobel, former ASIP President and Executive Officer for the occasion of the 100^th Anniversary.  PDF copies (and a limited number of hard copies) are available to members from Lisa McFadden (Lmcfadden@asip.org).