Southern Society for Clinical Investigation
The Southern Society for Clinical Investigation is dedicated to the advancement of medical research and the exchange of knowledge, information and ideas. Its members are committed to mentoring future generations of medical investigators and promoting careers in academic medicine.
The Southern Society for Clinical Investigation will be recognized as the premier regional society supporting the advancement of medical research by sponsoring an annual meeting, recognizing excellence in academic medicine, developing programs specifically to support young medical investigators, and publishing The American Journal of the Medical Sciences.
We are writing in follow-up to a very successful Southern Regional Meeting in New Orleans, February 2010. Despite the challenges of the current economy, the meeting had an excellent attendance and support of the workshops, symposia, plenary sessions and subspecialty sessions. The members are to be applauded for their continued support of the Southern Societies’ annual meeting.
The strength of our meeting has not been serendipitous. As an example, the Southern Section of the AFMR awarded 20 Trainee Travel Awards to the meeting in the early 1990s. Along with the financial support of the SSCI, which agreed to co-sponsor (i.e., co-fund) the Trainee Travel Award Program, the number has continued to grow with each successive meeting. Additionally, the young investigator programs, subspecialty dinner clubs, and sessions for trainees to meet the Southern Chairs of Medicine have all been very successful. These venues, combined with the strong support of the membership, have allowed for a robust and continually successful meeting.
The success of the meeting is in part dependent on successful fundraising. The Finance Committee continues to assist the Secretary-Treasurer and the Council in identifying opportunities for increasing support for the meeting in general, and the SSCI in particular. Fundraising has had to increase in parallel to support the Trainee Travel Awards Program. For our efforts to continue, the Council needs the help of individual members for additional fundraising. One new initiative is the Past President’s Fund designed to support the mentorship commitment of the SSCI. Solicitations of industry support by individual SSCI members allow continued growth in our programs and the annual meeting. All it requires is a good relationship with your local industry representative, a request for support for our trainee travel award program, and a referral to the SSCI website for information on how to make it happen.
The lifeblood of any volunteer organization is fundraising. We need your help in this effort.
Sincerely,
Michael S. Bronze, MD - Chair, Finance Committee
James C. Oates, MD - Secretary-Treasurer, SSCI
The SSCI is an organization of clinical investigators and biomedical scientists of the Southcentral and Southeastern United States whose goal is to promote high quality biomedical research by conducting an annual meeting, encouraging the participation of young investigators in this meeting, and publishing a journal, The American Journal of Medical Sciences. For information on how you can support the SSCI and its mission, please contact us.