The Microcirculatory Society, Inc.
Newsletter

Volume 27, Number 4

Summer, 1999

The Society remains in excellent condition despite a year of incredible difficulties and hardships. This is due to the extraordinary efforts of the officers and committee members of the Society. They all deserve our most sincere thanks. The combination of problems with our previous publisher and the failure of the Management Service to perform the functions promised have presented serious impediments to the well-being of the Society. Bruce has done an exceptional job in guiding us through the storm. The dedication and commitment of Mary and Paul in their respective roles as Secretary and Treasurer have helped keep things together in a very difficult time. We are all indebted to them. The other individuals that have contributed beyond the call of duty are too numerous to mention. One individual must, however, be recognized for his truly heroic efforts on behalf of the Society. This individual is Bob Gore. Bob's efforts in creating, and maintaining the Web Site are in themselves remarkable. He has also agreed to take on the additional burden of helping to establish a reliable database for our membership. I would like to thank Bob, on behalf of everyone in the Society for all the time and effort he has put into these critically important jobs.

During the coming years the Society will be faced with significant opportunities and challenges. I am confident that we are again entering a time when there will be increasing demand for research related to the microcirculation. The Society will continue to represent the individuals that are at the forefront of these efforts. Among the challenges that we will face are the ability to retain our identity as a unique research group and to maintain the traditions of our predecessors. In my opinion the most important accomplishment of the Society has been the outstanding job the members have done in mentoring young scientists. It is crucial that we retain this tradition and that our activities are always designed to keep this function a priority. A second important challenge that we face is recovering from the failures of the firm that was managing the Societies records, dues collection and other functions. The decision to employ an outside professional firm to manage the Society seemed at the time to be a good idea but in retrospect turned out to be a disaster. A decision was made at the Council Meeting that we would, at least during a period of recovery and transition, move to self management. Paul McDonagh and Bob Gore are spearheading these efforts. It is important that everyone make a concerted effort to provide all the information necessary to establish appropriate data bases. It is also critically important that everyone is current in their dues payments. This has become increasingly important because of the commitments the Society has made regarding the number of member subscriptions to "Microcirculation". Your cooperation in these areas is essential.

I think we all can take heart in the opportunities that the future will offer to the Society. We will increasingly take advantage of technologic changes to enhance the exchange of ideas, interaction of members, and management of society functions. I look forward to the opportunity of working together will everyone during the coming year.