PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

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PCICS’s 15th Annual International Meeting

John M. Costello, MD, MPH
President, PCICS
Vice Chair of Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics
Director of Research, Children’s Heart Center
Professor of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina

John M. Costello, MD, MPH

PCICS’s 15th Annual International Meeting that was held in London in November was a tremendous success!  This meeting, branded as the Joint Paediatric Critical Care International Meeting, was organized in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society and the organizers of the European Conference on Pediatric and Neonatal Cardiac Intensive Care.  Over 900 clinicians from around the world attended the meeting.  One of the highlights was a motivational talk from a young man from the United Kingdom named Anthony Bennett, who as an adolescent developed septic shock leading to a long ECMO run and a dozen cardiac arrests!  This personal survival story is a testament to the amazing work that all of you do each and every day. The scientific program also featured a number of outstanding plenary sessions, as well as breakout tracks in cardiac critical care, general intensive care, and cross cutting sessions.  Approximately 400 abstracts were presented, many in oral or moderated poster sessions, reflecting our commitment to increase the amount of original science presented at our meetings.  This format provided a great opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from our general pediatric critical care colleagues, along with pediatric and adult researchers from several other subspecialties.  The meeting location allowed attendees to visit London's historical landmarks, enjoy the diverse restaurant scene, and attend internationally renowned theater events.  Congratulations and my sincere thanks to the many individuals around the world who contributed to the organization of the London meeting.  Planning is well underway for the next PCICS meeting, scheduled for December 10-12, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida.  I look forward to seeing many of you again at that meeting!

PCICS transitioned to a new association management company this winter.  Knowing that our contract with Ruggles Service Corporation was set to expire at the end of December 2019, the Board of Directors decided it would be appropriate to explore other options. Following a 6-month systematic process that included assessment of applications from Ruggles and three other companies, a decision was made to transition to IMI Association Executives (IMIAE.com).  Linda Owens is the president of IMI and was our primary contact during the evaluation phase and guided the transition.  Lee Claassen is our account manager at IMI.  We anticipate that the transition will be seamless for most of our members, but please let Ms. Claassen know if you encounter any issues.  The Board of Directors is grateful for the service provided by Stewart Hinckley, Sandra Peterson, and their colleagues at Ruggles over the last 4 years, which was a time of tremendous growth for the Society. We are confident that our partnership with IMI will provide the best value for our members and ideally position us to fulfill our mission in the coming years.

The PCICS Board of Directors held our annual in-person meeting in London.  Important issues discussed included how we can improve our educational products and offerings, and how we can better meet the needs of our cardiac intensive care colleagues in underdeveloped nations.  I look forward to sharing more details about these issues in the coming year. 

Our leadership team is constantly striving to improve the Society in order to better serve you, with an overarching goal of improving pediatric cardiac intensive care at your centers and around the world. Please reach out to any of the Board Members or me with thoughts as to how we can add value to your membership in PCICS.

Best regards,
John M. Costello, M.D., M.P.H.
President, PCICS
Vice Chair of Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics
Director of Research, Children’s Heart Center
Professor of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina
e-mail: costello@musc.edu