Time flies and it is now near the end of my term of presidency. Looking back,
these two years have been full of opportunities and challenges. Financial
stability continues to be a great priority of our organization as the world
struggles with the financial tsunami. The financial landscape is also changing
quite rapidity as it is getting much more difficult to obtain sponsorship or
grants from industries.
Amidst this difficult and trying period, I am happy to report the progress and
achievements of IPA in these two years. The advocacy and public policy
initiative has developed further. IPA will be collaborating with Alzheimer’s
Disease International (ADI) to carry out a project to improve dementia care (GIDE)
under the leadership of IPA Board member, Anne Margriet Pot. This new
collaboration with ADI is very exciting for both organizations. In addition to
the GIDE project, we have continued with our focus groups on dementia care.
Several focus groups for Latin America were conducted in July 2008 in Chicago.
The data and information from these focus groups including those in Europe and
Asia provide the much needed information on the practice and barriers to
dementia care in different regions in the world.
Another major event for IPA is our contract renewal with publisher Cambridge
University Press (CUP). As I described in my last President’s Message
(May 2009), this new agreement is for 10 years, welcomes CUP as an IPA Corporate
Partner and provides new opportunities for IPA to create more services for the
field.
The IPA international meeting in Rio de Janeiro was a great success despite
concerns of the H1N1 flu lurking in the background. We had almost 500
participants and a very rich scientific program. I would like to express our
appreciation to the co-chairs of the meeting, Jerson Laks and João Carlos
Barbosa Machado for their work in organizing this outstanding meeting.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the Executive
Committee for their input and contributions over the past two years. In
particular, I would like to extend my appreciation to Jacobo Mintzer, our
Treasurer, who is very innovative and savvy, as well as Jill Rasmussen,
Treasurer-Elect and chair of the Corporate Strategy Committee, who has the very
difficult task of addressing the financial stability of IPA. I would also like
to thank Susan Oster, Executive Director, for her dedication to IPA along with
all of the staff at the Secretariat. As we prepare for the upcoming congress in
Montréal, I would like to thank co-chairs Serge Gauthier and Nathan Herrmann,
for planning what promises to be an outstanding meeting of which IPA will be
proud. I would also like to acknowledge our Board members who have all
contributed significantly to the development and achievements of IPA. For
instance, John O’ Brien, along with Leonardo Pantoni, who have helped to conduct
our very successful Neuroimaging in Dementia workshops on a number of
occasions, most recently, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The commitment of all our
Board members will be essential for IPA to stay relevant in the field and to
take up the leadership position. Last but not least, our Editor-in-Chief, David
Ames, who has brought our journal to a much higher level, deserves applause from
all of us.
I look forward to greeting all of you again in Montréal. As a final note, it is
my great pleasure to hand over the leadership to my friend and colleague, Masa
Takeda as the next president who will take office at the conclusion of the
Montréal Congress. As IPA immediate past president, I look forward to actively
working with him to help lead the IPA organizational and transformational
initiative. This is an important challenge for IPA and will need all of our
support, participation and input.
With the very strong leadership of the new Executive Committee, I am confident
that IPA will continue to grow and prosper and to reach new heights.
Reprinted from IPA Bulletin, Volume 26, Number 3
Copyright 2012 International Psychogeriatric Association
