President's Letter
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
I invite you to join me for the 67th Annual Meeting of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association at the new Omni Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas from March 16-20, 2010.
“Y’all in the Family” is the theme for the meeting, and you will certainly want to experience the wonderful Texas hospitality of Fort Worth as the ACPA family gathers to once again learn from each other. Dr. Howard Saal and his Program Committee have done an outstanding job of putting together a fantastic multidisciplinary program focused on team care of individuals with cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial anomalies. With the family of our patients and our multidisciplinary team family as the focus, several panel discussions, the usual high quality scientific presentations, and many in depth study sessions will be of interest to all.
Kathy Sulik, PhD, an embryologist and teratologist from Chapel Hill, North Carolina will open the meeting with the D. Ralph Millard, Jr., MD Lecture. Dr. Sulik’s research has focused for almost 30 years on the mechanisms and pathogenesis of craniofacial malformations with a particular interest in modeling the embryology of human genetic syndromes. Her photographs of normal and abnormal embryologic development of the face are fascinating to see, and I am certain her presentation will be a great kick-off to the meeting.
Joe Losee, MD and Peg Nopoulos, MD are the Co-Chairs of the 2010 Pre-Conference Symposium which will precede the annual meeting on March 15-16. This one and ½ day meeting is jointly sponsored by the American Society of Craniofacial Surgery and is entitled “Multidisciplinary Care of the Patient with Craniofacial Anomalies”. It will consist of a broad-based series of presentations from clinical care to research topics that will be of interest to all health care providers associated with the care and treatment of patients with craniofacial conditions. “Nuts and Bolts for Team Care” co-chaired by Janice Rockwood, RN,BSN and Karen Via, MSN,BSN, RN will once again be held on Tuesday afternoon March 16th.
Texas is a unique state and Fort Worth is about as Texas as you can get. The climate in late March is usually warm and spring like and its western, cowboy atmosphere is sure to lead to lots of the usual ACPA fun. Dianne Mulick-Altuna, MS and her local arrangements committee have found some great places for us to socialize. I suspect some of us might even be seen riding a mechanical bull or doing the Texas two step.
I look forward to welcoming the ACPA family to our 67th annual meeting in Fort Worth where we will once again learn from each other, renew old friendships and make new ones, and gain knowledge that will help our patients and their families.
Sincerely,
Isaac L. Wornom III, MD, FACS
2010 ACPA President