By Timothy J. O’Leary, MD, PhD Chair, Program Committee e-mail: timothy.oleary@va.gov

To some of us it seems inconceivable that the Association for Molecular Pathology is planning its FIFTEENTH Annual Meeting for Kissimmee, Florida on November 19-22, 2009 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center.  The Program promises to be truly spectacular.  The AMP Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics lecture will be given by Kay Davies of Oxford University to kick off a meeting that features Plenary Sessions featuring Hakon Hakonarson on complex genetic diseases of childhood, Mark Ladanyi on the Cancer Genome Atlas, Laura Pasqualucci and Vu Ngo on NFKB Activation in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Donna Wolk, Charlotte Gaydos and David J. Ecker on Mass Spectrometry for Infectious Diseases Applications.   A large selection of concurrent Workshops includes abstract presentations, Workshops on Molecular Diagnostics and Targeted Therapies of Colon Cancer (including EGFR and KRAS), Acquired Mutations in Myeloproliferative Diseases, Analysis of Complex Genetic Disorders, Strategies for the Diagnosis and Prevention of C. Difficile infections, Microarrays, Gene Patents and Molecular Pathology Using Paraffin-Embedded Tissue.   The use of an audience response system will provide an interactive experience in “Puzzlers by Prior” and “Technical Troubles.” A panoply of Early Bird Sessions almost rounds out the schedule.

There will be some new features for this year’s Meeting – a “Breaking Developments” Workshop and a “Career Development” Workshop will provide opportunities to look at both emerging issues in research and practice and at opportunities that may emerge for us as individuals to focus, refocus or redirect our careers.  There also will be an opportunity to organize some small groups (10-30 individuals) to discuss in depth a problem of mutual interest.

The recent Companion Meeting presented by the Association for Molecular Pathology at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology meeting in Boston provided a preview of high quality sessions that we can expect in Florida.  Shuji Ogino, Dan Jones and Peggy Gulley spoke to an enthusiastic (and large) audience on Epigenomic Changes in Colorectal Cancer, Targeted Therapy of Melanoma, and Molecular Pathology of AML, respectively.  The handouts, found at http://www.uscap.org/site~/98th/companionhh04.htm,provide a sense of the high quality presentations that characterize every AMP Meeting. The Program Committee thanks Shuji, Dan and Peggy for making the Companion Meeting a success, and presaging the success of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting.

For many of us, the last fifteen years of meetings have given us the best possible opportunity to keep up with friends and colleagues that have journeyed with us as molecular pathology developed.  There is no better chance to do this than at “The Social Event” that Jeff Kant launched last year. It will return bigger and better for the Fifteenth Annual Meeting.

The Meeting Program is the result of hard and effective efforts by both Program Committee members and AMP members who have suggested Plenary topics, Workshops and Early Bird Sessions, and those who have agreed to present them.  I believe that these efforts guarantee a scientifically spectacular Meeting.  For this fifteenth Meeting to be truly successful, however, requires the enthusiasm of AMP members who come to sessions with questions that challenge our field, and vendors and corporate sponsors who bring their advances to the attention of others. Abstract submission began March 31 – bring your best work forward to an audience who is committed to bringing significant advances into clinical practice at the first possible opportunity. I will be interested to see if anyone beats Shuji Ogino to get the first abstract into the system!  Register for the Annual Meeting before it slips your mind (once again – can you beat Shuji?).  Early registration must be completed before September 14 to get the best possible meeting rate.