Latest News
SESPRS 50th Annual meeting
The 50th Annual meeting of our beloved Society was special indeed. Nearly 200 Life, Active, and Candidate Members attended. In that number were 15 Past Presidents and 2 widows of Past Presidents. Things kicked off at the 50’s themed opening reception with current President Bruce Shack and incoming President Suman Das dressed in tight white T-shirts and rolled up jeans.
The Annual Report from the ASPS and ASAPS Presidents were given by SESPRS Members Roxanne Guy and Foad Nahai. Keynote speaker Dr. Larry Hollier, Sr, Chancellor of the LSU Medical Center, gave a riveting presentation on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on medical education in Louisiana. He made a very strong case for the necessity of rebuilding medical education in New Orleans. Later in the morning past President Tony Pizzo charmed us with a history of the first 50 years of the Society. Convivial meetings with frank and open discussions in a family friendly resort setting, resident paper competition, and an excellent assortment of Member papers have made the Southeastern the envy of regional societies throughout the country.
The Upchurch lecture delivered by Dr. Ed Luce “Cleft Lip Repair, Pollicization, Breast Reconstruction…Working in Milton’s Seventh Heaven and Dante’s Fifth Circle of Hell” was as entertaining and enlightening. Panels on soft tissue fillers and breast surgery were well attended. A panel entitled “Succeeding as a Reconstructive Surgeon in an Aesthetic World” generated a great deal of interest with a call for our national organization to take up this cause for the survival of this aspect of our specialty. Another excellent panel on “Safety Considerations in Plastic Surgery” also generated much discussion.
Competing for the 31st Glancy Award were presenters from the University of Virginia, the University of Mississippi, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kentucky, the University of Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Duke. It was a first and second place sweep for Duke. The winning paper “Non-Muscle Myosin II Regulates collagen Matrix Contraction and Wound Healing” was delivered by Dr. H. Levinson.
A highlight of the Presidential dinner dance was the ongoing slide show of photos taken at meetings over the last 50 years. There was much laughter over hair and clothing styles that were considered attractive in their day. Dr. Shack announced that the Membership had awarded an Honorary Membership in the Society to Dr. Ian Jackson. Dr. Jackson was the first Upchurch Lecturer in 1975, and has been a program participant on numerous occasions since then. Bruce gave a tribute to our first foreign born President Dr. Suman Das that was both flattering and funny. After receiving the Presidential medallion Suman invited all in attendance to meet in June 2008 in Boca Raton, Florida.