PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
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Wai-Kei Lo (Hong Kong)
wkloc@hkucc.hku.hk |
Dear members of the ISPD
Summer has passed and I hope everyone of you have enjoyed a good summer vacation. I have spent 2 weeks summer vacation with my family in the picturesque Norwegian fjords, islands and mountains, cruising, kayaking, going fishing, seeing midnight sun etc. It was a very impressive and enjoyable trip.
To the ISPD, there was quite a lot of exciting news coming out in this summer.
Impact Factor of Peritoneal Dialysis International
The impact factor of our PDI rose from 1.38 in 2005 to 2.38 in 2006, ranking number 18 among 55 nephrology and urology journals. This is the highest impact factor that the PDI has achieved in this Millennium. This is not easy for a journal that is dedicated solely to only one session of nephrology - peritoneal dialysis. The impact factor 2006 represents citation frequencies of articles published in 2004-5. This increase reflects:
a. Improvement in quality of articles of PDI
b. Increase in readership and accessibility to PDI
c. Increase in research publication in the field of PD
We must have to thank our the editor-in-chief Peter Blake, the Deputy Editor Nickolas Topley, the associate editors Simon Davies, Olivier Devuyst, Brad Warady and Cheuk Chun Szeto for their dedicated work and leadership. With the on-line accessibility of the PDI in 2006, we look forward to further increase in the impact factor, and a greater impact of PD research and development in the nephrology community.
In 2006, the council of ISPD had decided to put in more funds to increase the number of pages of PDI per issue. You may have found that the PDI is now somewhat thicker than before. Have you?
So, there are all the good reasons for you to submit your research output to PDI.
Membership is growing
With the effort of the membership committee under the chair of Dr. Yong-Lim Kim, several membership campaigns have been conducted this year. We have 253 new members (non-sponsored) joining the ISPD. This is a great number to our society of size around 1000 memberships. In comparison, there were 136 and 189 new members (non-sponsored) in 2005 and 2006 respectively. However, 135 members (non-sponsored) did not renew membership this year. We need to work hard continuously not just to attract more new members, but also satisfy the need of our members.
The North American and Latin American Chapter Meeting
The joint meeting of the 2 American Chapters was successfully conducted in early June in Florida, USA. There were close to 400 participants, including around 100 from Latin America. Though not a big size meeting, the participants enjoyed the science and atmosphere of the Meeting. There was a session conducted in Spanish and was very welcomed by participants from Latin America. It sparkled the fire for the urge of having a separate Latin American Chapter with Spanish being the main language media in 2009. Active planning for this is started.
PD course in Brazil
Thanks to the co-ordination of Roberto Pecoits-Filho and the effort of many speakers from around the world, the PD course was conducted very successfully as a pre-congress course to World Congress of Nephrology 2007 on the 21 April, 2007 at Rio de Janeiro. It was the most attended pre-congress courses – 300 participants.
From these activities related to Latin America, we see the urge of development of PD in this part of the world. Rapid growth of PD in Latin America is anticipated. The ISPD will work towards fostering the need of Latin America.
If you want to find out more about PD in Latin America, there is a section in PDI recently (Volume 27, Number 3, 2007) with articles on history of development, current status and scientific works of PD in Latin America.
Coming Event - the 3rd Asian Chapter Meeting, Hiroshima, Japan, 22-24 November 2007
This Asian Chapter Meeting will be held very soon. It has received a good number of abstracts - 265 - mostly from Asian countries, again reflecting the growth of interest in PD in Asia. Hiroshima in November is very attractive for the beautiful scenery of the red leaves in its neighbouring island Miyajima where the Otorii Gate, the most famous landmark of Japan, is located. It is still not too late for registration now. Please visit our ISPD website or at www.ics-inc.co.jp/acm-ispd2007 for details.
Knowing our committees - the International Study Committee
One of the objectives of the ISPD is to promote the development of science in peritoneal dialysis. The International Study Committee serves to provide financial support to studies that require international participation and of potential significance to enhance the knowledge in scientific or clinical practice aspects of peritoneal dialysis. The committee is now chaired by Simon Davies (UK), with members of distinguished scientific profile from different countries: Roberto Pecoits-Filho (Brazil), Nicholas Topley (UK), Wim Van Biesen (Belgium), Hidemoto Nakamoto (Japan), Angela Wang (Hong Kong), Peter Margetts (Canada). Their role is to assess the standard and potential significance of the applications and make recommendation to the ISPD.
Over the last few years, the following research projects have been supported by the ISPD:
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Principal
investigator |
Project title |
2007 |
Franz Schaefer |
International Paediatric Network Plan |
2005 |
Angela Summers |
International EPS DNA Bank: Genetic Markers of EPS in PD |
2002 |
Brad Warady |
International Paediatric Peritonitis Registry |
2002 |
Nicholas Topley |
GLOBAL Fluid Study |
2001 |
Carol Pollock |
IDEAL (Initiating Dialysis Early and Late) |
If you are planning an international study and are searching for financial or peer review support, visit our website www.ispd.org for more details.
Renew your membership
The year 2008 is coming, it is about time to renew your membership. Invitation e-mails to renew your membership will soon be sent to you if your membership is going to expire by end of 2007. I strongly encourage you to renew early to show your support to the Society as well as not to interrupt any membership welfare you are receiving. You may choose the 3 years membership which is cheaper per year and also saves you from the trouble of yearly renewal. Your membership can be renewed on-line through our official website www.ispd.org.
There are some members who have not yet activated your login for PDI. Please activate as soon as possible. If you forgot your login number, please send e-mail to subscription@multi-med.com
With warm regards
Dr. Wai-Kei Lo
President
ISPD
October 2007
wkloc@hkucc.hku.hk
President's Message Archives
Biography
Dr. Wai-Kei Lo is the Consultant Physician and director of renal service of Tung Wah Hospital and Hon. Clinical Associate Professor of the University of Hong Kong. After graduation from the University of Hong Kong in 1980, his interest in peritoneal dialysis budded when he participated in the first PD program in Hong Kong as a resident in 1982. The subsequent blooming of PD in Hong Kong and his joining the University of Hong Kong in 1990 provided him more clinical and research experience in PD. He has been the principal co-coordinator of Asian Chapter since its inception in 2001 until he takes up the Presidency at the Hong Kong Congress 2006. He has many publications in the field of peritoneal dialysis and is the chief author of the newly published ISPD guideline on solute and fluid removal. |
