Michael Camilleri, MD

Message from the President

Michael Camilleri, MD

We start off 2009 with a new administration, a new appointee to FDA leadership and challenging times. A time of change.

Current State of the Society
ANMS is a vibrant and active society with both clinical and basic science research interests and important programs that are the legacy of our hard-working past-president, Henry Parkman. In particular, the clinical training program has enhanced GI fellowship training in motility across the country, the theme-related research grant opportunities have assisted scientists with furthering their research efforts, and the support provided by ANMS to the Joint Society Meetings has been demonstrated by the great success of the meeting in Luzern. We consider the Joint Society meeting as the flagship scientific meeting which will occur annually and we are developing ways to continue clinical training courses, mentoring and providing a forum for development of basic science trainees.

Given these programs, the attrition of members in areas that used to be traditional strengths of the ANMS (e. g. esophageal disease) and the evolution and broadening of disciplines now evident among members of the ANMS, we felt there was a need to re-structure our Committees and expand our Council.

Goals
Our goals are:

1. to impact the care of patients with functional and motility disorders or problems of appetite and obesity as they relate to neurohormonal, brainstem and peripheral control mechanisms;

2. to enhance activities in practice, education, research, advocacy, interaction with patient societies, federal, NIH, and Foundations and to be more representative of constituencies and interests within the society.

We anticipate a new era of collaboration with other professional and patient societies and organizations in North America as we realize the strength of working together.

Membership Drive
We now require help from all members to solicit colleagues to become active members of ANMS. Toward this end, Richard McCallum, Co-Chair of the Membership Drive, is working to broaden our membership to reflect broad interests in enteric neuroscience and neurogastroenterology. We want our members to feel ownership of the society and we are striving toward a vertical integration: A society “under one umbrella” with interests in epidemiology, psychosocial and ingestive behavior, through clinical, translational, and applied basic science of brain-gut communication, to cellular and molecular studies. ANMS is the natural home for these professionals, clinical and basic scientists in the field of neurogastroenterology.

Clinical Subcommittee
Our Clinical Course offers clinical training, has been deemed excellent by attendees and is very popular among the community. This course has been held every other year and we will retain it. The next Clinical Course will be held with the 2010 Joint Scientific Meeting in Boston. There are continued efforts led by Drs. Parkman, Rao, and DiLorenzo to obtain CPT codes and reimbursement for Motility procedures and treatments. Our focus for the next 2 years will be on colonic motility, intraluminal pressure measurements, and biofeedback retraining for constipation.

We have set an ambitious timetable to validate GCSI (Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index) endpoints since these are critical to approval of medications in this area of unmet need. We are grateful to all our sponsors who are making it possible for the ANMS to anchor these validation studies. Validated endpoints will be presented to the FDA by the ANMS in collaboration with patient organizations. We are hoping that this effort will facilitate drug development and offer new hope to patients with Gastroparesis.

Research Grants
In the past, we have been fortunate to have the resources to fund theme-related research based on peer-reviewed applications. The Research subcommittee has selected Ingestive behavior and Satiety /Obesity as the theme for applications this year. However, due to the downturn in the economy which has impacted our sponsors, and market losses we are faced with realistic constraints on our finances and in funding programs. We are working in a variety of different ways to try and gain opportunities in other avenues, and to issue a call for applications hopefully by mid-year.

Pharma Summit
As part of a strategy in relationship building, members of the ANMS will donate their time and talent to the ANMS one-day PHARMA Summit. This is a closed meeting which will take place in Washington DC on March 23, 2009. Representatives from the R and D community of major pharmaceutical, good food and device manufacturers have been invited.

Journal
The society journal, Neurogastroenterology and Motility continues to go from strength to strength; the ANMS participates in the management of the Journal, and is keen to secure a greater ownership of the journal. The publisher, Wiley Blackwell, is currently sole owner of the journal and its title. We are also exploring ways to reduce publication costs and have surveyed the membership to explore the proportion who prefer paper versus electronic journal.

Closing Comment
Given the change in ANMS by-laws regarding tenure of the Presidency, I am on an ambitious pace. I appreciate the honor to serve as President for another 18 months. I am committed to the society and to providing talented members of the ANMS the opportunity to gain experience on ANMS committees and Council, and to succeed as leaders of the Society. We also plan regular, bi-annual communication from the different subcommittees through our electronic medium, the RECORDER.

Michael Camilleri, MD
ANMS President