Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor, MD, PhD
SRI President, 2010-2011
After Les Myatt’s successful year, I assumed the SGI Presidency in March 2010 with a cabinet comprised of Ava Tayman, Executive Director, John Tyson, MD, Director of Development, Michael Ross, MD MPH, Secretary-Treasurer and Dan Lebovic, MD MA as Program Director. It was an interesting transitional year in several ways. First, by June 2010 rumors were circulating that ACOG would imminently sell off its property on 12th Street in Washington, DC. As that space also housed the SGI administration, I was forced to convene an emergency meeting of the Council to evaluate our options. In retrospect, the entire scenario turned out to be apocryphal (now, 7 years later, ACOG Headquarters firmly remain on 12th Street), but the buzz resulted in physical relocation of the entire SGI administrative staff. A newly identified office, suspiciously proximate to Ava’s home in Annapolis, MD, was selected after Drs. Tyson and Ross visited the premises and negotiated the rent. In retrospect, the destabilization and over-reaction initiated by the “tempest in a teapot” relocation, evolved into productive deliberations as to how the SGI might be more efficiently administered in the future. Yoel Sadovsky, then a SGI Council member, encouraged by Secretary-Treasurer Ross, brought forward a proposal to consider professional organizations supporting consortia of other academic societies. We had a productive teleconference with Debbie Anagostelis, Executive Director of the Pediatric Academic Societies, a union of 13 pediatric research societies and 10 academic clubs. Ultimately, under Dr. Serdar Bulun’s presidential leadership 4 years later, this sort of reorganization was effected with the hiring of EDI.
My priority goal of the 2010-2011 year was to establish stronger collaborations with our scientific “sister” societies. With the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) leadership, we settled upon the topic of “Hormone Dependent Malignancies” and sponsored a mini-symposium at SSR with SGI members Kim Leslie, MD, Serdar Bulun, MD, and Kunle Odunsi, MD PhD, presenting; I served as the moderator and the program was well-received at the Annual SSR meeting in Milwaukee in August 2010. This exchange format was reciprocated at our 58th annual SGI meeting, where an SSR mini-symposium on “Rodent and Nonhuman Primate Models in Reproduction,” was presented, featuring invited experts from the SSR.
Another critical milestone was the successful resubmission of our NICHD U13 grant, which provided financial support for the annual meetings, but whose funding had lapsed. Dr. Kelle Moley, as Program Committee Chair, worked tirelessly on the new application, and with some assiduous input from the SGI leadership, Dr. Moley’s revised grant received a 12%ile score and was awarded, providing a needed economic shot in the arm for our future meetings.
International meetings, summits and satellites continued to be promoted by the Council, and a steady influx of international members and participants enhanced diversity as well as scientific breadth to the scope of the SGI experience. The 4th SGI International Summit “Viva Brasil!” was held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in May 2011. Fernando Reis, MD PhD was the summit program director and his program covered topics in gynecology related to ovarian function, osteoporosis, PCOS and endometriosis.
Our 58th annual meeting was highly successful and the best attended to date, owing in large part to an outstanding venue. Ava had secured the property several years in advance, when it was undergoing a badly needed renovation, allowing us to take advantage of a very competitive price. The meeting was at the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, which dazzled in pristine condition at the time of our conference. ‘Reproduction and Regenerative Medicine’ was the theme of the meeting and the plenary speakers (Jose Cibelli, PhD [Michigan State Univ.] and Alta Charo, JD [Univ. of Wisconsin]) reflected expertise in the genetics and ethics of stem cell biology, respectively. The scientific program, developed by Dan Lebovic and Kelle Moley was excellent. The President’s reception was held in an apartment previously occupied by Frank Sinatra, lending an historical flair to the event.