August 2022

 

International Association of Endocrine Surgeons

 

Meeting Vienna, Austria
 

It was with great pleasure that the leaders of international endocrine surgery convened in Vienna on the 14th of August for the first in-person meeting in three years following interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting had been organized in record time by the previous secretary Dr. Janice Pasieka in conjunction with the local arrangements organizer Professor Bruno Niederle from Austria, who had been the previous local arrangements host in 1999. Professor Niederle had chosen Fleming’s Selection Hotel Wien-City, Vienna to be the IAES conference hotel.

Our meeting began with the welcome reception at the Fleming’s Selection Hotel, Wien-City. The diverse and interesting scientific program that had been organized took place over the following three days, August 15, 16, and 17, at the ISS convention center.

As always, the core of the meeting consisted of splendid oral and poster abstracts from members selected from around the world. Special thanks go to Tracy Wang (USA), who headed the abstract selection committee and was ably assisted by many of her colleagues from around the world.

One of the two scientific highlights of the meeting was the IAES Peter Heimann lecture. This year, it was given by Professor Shunichi Yamashita from Japan on thyroid cancer and nuclear accidents. This was well-received along with the Presidential address from Professor Akira Miyauchi; Kobe Japan, outlining the chronology of thyroid cancer and how he has provided an alternative to the management of micropapillary thyroid cancer over the lifetime of his work.
Further, there were other interesting sessions throughout the three-day conference of note. As usual, a thought-provoking interesting cases session was moderated by Janice Pasieka. Barbra Miller (USA) and Olov Norlén (Sweden) co-ordinated a well-attended breakfast session, focusing on endocrine surgical videos from colleagues worldwide.

On Tuesday night, the IAES Gala banquet was held at the Vienna City Hall. The City Hall is one of the most splendid among the numerous monumental buildings along Vienna’s Ringstraße. Designed by Friedrich Schmidt (1825-1891), it was built between 1872 and 1883.

At City Hall, we were welcomed by Dr. Michael Binder Head of the Vienna Healthcare Group, and surgical oncologist Prof Thomas Bachleitner-Hofmann entertained us with exquisite performances on the piano during the evening.

The final day of the conference was rounded up by panel sessions on scientific misconduct and the care of surgical patients, basic science in endocrine surgery where early career researchers from around the globe presented their very interesting work, and concluded with a discussion on novel techniques in endocrine
surgery, including thyroid nodule ablative techniques and fluorescence-based parathyroid detection and perfusion techniques.

On Thursday, many members took the opportunity to explore Vienna and the surrounding countryside, taking in the many sights, art galleries, museums, and wineries that the city had to offer.

Despite the hurried organization and uncertainty regarding the success of an in-person meeting, it was felt that the meeting was extremely well-attended by Endocrine surgical leaders and the next generation of leaders from the US, Australia, Europe, and Asia. It was felt that the international endocrine surgical community is indeed in a strong position.

This year also marked the end of service for many councilors from the IAES council and executives. Through a difficult COVID-19-affected period, we are indebted to the leadership provided by President Akira Miyauchi and Secretary-Treasurer Janice Pasieka. A number of our long-serving councilors have concluded their terms and need to be congratulated on their contribution to the IAES council over the last 7 years. Special mentions go to Sally Carty (USA), Tsueno Imai (Japan), Jean Louis Kraimps (France), Stanley Sidhu (Australia), Euy Young Soh (South Korea), Goran Wallin (Sweden), Martha A Zieger (USA) and Fausto Palazzo (UK). The council has served admirably for the last 7 years and assisted the President and Secretary-Treasurer in undertaking their duties running the organization. They should be congratulated for their efforts.

We also formally thank Rob Parkyn who has served for many years as the Interest Chair and handed over duties to Inne Borel-Rinkes (Netherlands) to continue the great program that he has created.

Special thanks also go to Gerard Doherty, who has been a longstanding member of the council and executive since 2003. He also served as our President from 2017-2019. He ends his very long association with IAES at this meeting. Furthermore, we have benefited from the substantial contribution of Geoffrey Thompson, who has served as Secretary-Treasurer and Council coordinator since 2009. He also ends his longstanding association with the IAES executive. We thank both of these gentlemen for their long and valued service.

We thank Tammy Skilnick-Mierau for her outstanding service to the organization in assisting Janice Pasieka in running the organization over the last 7 years. Her dedication and service to the organization have been immense.

This meeting also marks a welcome to five new councilors: Jonathan Serpell (Australia), Peter Stalberg (Sweden), Tracy Wang (USA), Dana Hartl (France), and Iwao Sugitani (Japan). We look forward to their insights and contributions.

After the meeting, the new executive assumed their positions with Jan Zedenius becoming the President, Janice Pasieka becoming the President-elect, Fausto Palazzo becoming the Council coordinator, and Stanley Sidhu becoming Secretary-Treasurer. The new executives and council will work tirelessly for the best
interests of the IAES to keep the association strong, diverse, and scientifically engaged.

We look forward to our next in-person meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2024.

Stan Sidhu Secretary Treasurer IAES