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

>>AMP Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics
>>AMP 2009 Annual Meeting & Exhibits

The 2008 Annual Meeting in Grapevine, Texas, under the able leadership of Jeff Kant (former President and 2005 AMP Leadership Award honoree) demonstrated the commitment to innovation and excellence that has characterized AMP since its humble beginnings.    Over 1000 attendees heard Carl Wittwer, a “force majeure” in the development of real-time PCR methods, present the AMP Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics lecture, participated in a record eight Early Bird Sessions ranging from Shuji Ogino’s repeat-performance Bayesian Analysis Workshop to Jeff Kant’s provocative Personalized Genomics session featuring speakers from 23andMe and Navigenics.  Sixteen workshops held in four concurrent sessions proved a challenge for attendees, who were delighted by the many offerings, but challenged to pick from one of four equally inviting simultaneous sessions.  The challenge was particularly acute when choosing from among the superb platform presentations selected from member abstracts in each of the Subdivisions.  The exceptional quality of the poster presentations made it difficult for judges to choose both the 2008 Young Investigator Award Winners (Hunter Best, Vanderbilt School of Medicine; Christine Schmotzer, Emory University School of Medicine; and William I. Towler, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) and Technologist Award Winners (Nicola Dundas, Children’s Medical Center, Dallas; Angela Harter, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Mohamed Jama, ARUP Laboratories).   

Two additional features differentiated the 2008 Meeting from past meetings.  On the serious side, a special symposium on clonality assessment in hematopathology drew several hundred attendees on the Wednesday before the Meeting, and a “Social Event” kept folks awake Saturday evening with various forms of AMP antics.  By popular acclamation, the social event is here to stay, with a committee of AMP heavy hitters, with Jeff Kant and Jean Amos-Wilson chairing the arrangements for 2009.

Meanwhile, plans for the 2009 15^th Annual Meeting in Orlando has begun in earnest; the Program Committee has been in full swing for a month already.  In addition to superb science, look for some sessions devoted to career development, and perhaps a few small group workshops that will remind some of the other “old folks” that have been with AMP from the beginning of the “early days.”

Finally, a word of thanks to our supporters: Roche, Abbott Molecular, Luminex, Third Wave, Asuragen, InVivoscribe, Nanosphere, Pathworks Diagnostics and Sequenom. As Corporate Partners, they provide much of the financial support necessary to make this meeting a scientific and social success.  This support is much appreciated.

Mark Your Calendars for 2009! AMP 2009 Annual Meeting & Exhibits November 19-22, 2009 Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center Kissimmee, FL