issue 5, 2010 - British Division of the IAP

Page 2
gods were looking after us because not only were
the facilities excellent, but they meant that the meeting
took place in a fully air conditioned environment
during the hottest week of 2009 – we would have
melted if we had stayed at the University!
Feedback on Cardiff Pathology 2009 suggested that
we had been successful in blending the science of
pathology with its clinical practice, and the quality of
the proffered papers was very high. For us, collaborating
with colleagues from the BDIAP and the
Pathological Society (and a number of other groups)
during the organisation was extremely easy and
pleasurable. We had a lecture from Sir Martin Evans,
one of Cardiff’s Nobel Laureates, there were
invited speakers from Germany, Japan, the Netherlands,
Sweden, the United States, and pathologists
of all ages shook the City Hall after the Conference
Dinner as they danced to the music of Dr Allen
Gibbs’s jazz band. It was a particular pleasure to
welcome Professor Femi Ogunbiyi, President of the
Anglophone West African Division of the IAP, and
his colleagues to the meeting and to discuss with
them how the BDIAP might support the US and Canadian
Division in providing pathology education in
that part of Africa.
As President, I had the pleasure of attending two
other very successful BDIAP meetings during the
last year. The novel and imaginative One-Day
Seminar for Trainees on Laboratory Techniques,
designed and organised by Lisa Browning and Katie
Robertson, was well attended and special thanks
are due to Cathy Corbishley who ensured that trainees’
attention was maintained to the very end by
holding a wide-ranging Q&A session on the
FRCPath examination. Our Annual Symposium in
November on the Autopsy was terrific, at least for
me as someone who has not done an autopsy for
25 years, and I am very grateful to all those involved
for broadening my mind!
2009 was the year when our aspirations for supporting
pathology education in East Africa, led by Alec
Howat, began to come to fruition. These exciting
developments are described in detail elsewhere in
the newsletter, but I would particularly like to thank
Alec for his outstanding input, and to draw readers’
attention to the fact that the BDIAP’s investment in
the successful training of Dr Ahmed Kalebi in South
Africa over the last four years has paid dividends.
Ahmed passed the Final Fellowship (FCPath) examinations
and has now returned home to Nairobi
to play a major role in the development of a new
East African Division of the IAP. The other three
“British” Schools of Pathology – Arab, Bosnian, and
Sri Lankan - continue to go from strength to strength
BDIAP NEWSLETTER
and I am immensely grateful to all of our members
who have given freely of their time to each of these
Schools this year. Following Stefan Dojcinov’s contribution
to the British Bosnian School, two clinical scientists
from Sarajevo have visited Cardiff to develop
their expertise in the molecular diagnostics of lymphomas.
It is a great pleasure to report that Professor Claude
Cuvelier, our Past President, has been elected an
European Vice-President of the International Academy
of Pathology – a worthy reflection of his standing
among pathologists across the continent. He succeeds
Professor Kristin Henry, who will soon achieve
the ultimate accolade of President of the (worldwide)
IAP (she is currently President-Elect). This honour is
a reflection of Kristin’s sustained contribution to the
IAP over many years, and particularly to developing
pathology education internationally. It was our pride
in her achievements that made her the obvious
choice to receive the BDIAP’s President’s Medal for
education in 2009, and I had the privilege of presenting
this to her at the Dinner in November. I also had
the immense pleasure of presenting the BDIAP’s
other major award, the Cunningham Medal for service
to the BDIAP, to Carol Harris, who has been our
Administrative Secretary for 15 years. Carol’s efficiency,
loyalty, and willingness to ‘go the extra mile’
has been the stable foundation that has allowed the
BDIAP to flourish over the years while Presidents,
Officers, and Councillors come and go. Long may
she continue!
I also feel compelled to congratulate Professor Mike
Wells, his editorial team, and colleagues from Wiley-
Blackwell led by Elizabeth Whelan, on the success of
the BDIAP’s journal Histopathology. For the first
time, the journal’s impact factor has risen above 4,
surpassing nearly all international competitors, and
while it is true that impact factors are not everything,
they do represent one objective indicator of a journal’s
quality. The benefits of a number of innovations
that Mike has introduced over the last few years
are becoming obvious. Mike’s term of office as Editor
will come to an end in January 2012, and during the
coming year we will be looking to recruit a successor
from the membership of the BDIAP. Expressions of
interest (made to me in the first instance) would be
extremely welcome.
One important change to the Officers of the BDIAP in
2009 has seen Neil Shepherd’s term of office as
General Secretary come to an end, and his replacement
by Andrew Nicholson. Neil’s enthusiastic efficiency
and effectiveness in getting things done, and
his unremitting devotion to the BDIAP, are legendary
and we are truly grateful for his services for the last