• Home
• About Us
• Contact

• Membership
• Research
• Clinician Resources
• Patient Resources
• Motility History

Message from ANMS-FBG President

Satish Rao, MD, PhD, FRCP, FACG

Astonishingly, October is here and one year has gone by since the last issue of The Recorder, and in the interim what a terrific journey has it been for our society. Hardly had the ink dried on the many laurels we received for hosting our NGM 2010 meeting at Boston, the ANMS-FBG council were hard at work deliberating on our members needs and the future of our society. Their enthusiasm culminated in plans for organizing a first ever 3-in-one event for 2011: a postgraduate course, a 2-day scientific meeting and a Young Investigator Forum. Additionally, 2011 witnessed many other landmark events that I will summarize below.

What have we accomplished?

Fresh from our most successful ANMS-FBG meeting in September 2011 in St Louis, I am pleased to report that our 6th Postgraduate Course on Gastrointestinal Motility and Neurogastroenterology in Clinical Practice attracted over 275 attendees who gave us rave reviews. 37 faculty did a spectacular job with Live Demonstrations, didactic lectures, interactive workshops and case-based discussions. This was followed by ANMS-FBG 16th biennial Scientific meeting (after a 6 yr gap) that was enthusiastically received by our members with 375 attendees who presented 185 abstracts including 40 oral abstract presentations. This was blended with 20 brilliant state-of- the-art lectures using a bench to bedside format, hot topics in basic and clinical sciences and 3 theme-based translational symposia. The highlight was the 2nd ANMS Tripuraneni Oration, our Society’s highest honor. Professor Jeffery I. Gordon from Washington University gave an oration on Intestinal Microbiome and its link to gastrointestinal and other diseases.

Finally, the 15 young investigators who participated in an exclusive and superb mentor-mentee program, walked away with fresh ideas and hopefully inspired to be future leaders.

Our leadership has created a new organizational structure that encompasses a broad range of disciplines within our field, summarized below.

We believe that this grouping best represents our current and future needs, and will position us for optimal scientific dialog and growth.

In January, the Council held its 5th annual retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona, where we developed strategic goals for our society. Each of our 7 committees, clinical, research, education, membership, liaison/international affairs, finance, Pharma/FDA relations held extensive group discussions and laid out plans that were debated by the council. For details on this and other committee activities, please see Chair reports below.

In May 2011 at DDW we hosted a very successful reception that was attended by over 300 members and guests from all over the world. This provided an excellent forum for fellowship and camaraderie. I also took this opportunity to recognize the generous support of our industry sponsors as well as all of our past Presidents for their extraordinary service to our 31-year old society.

Our booth at DDW also attracted a large number of visitors and attendees this year, another sign of growing interest in our field. Our superb staff ably led by Ms. Lori Ennis performed a yeoman’s service.

ANMS-FBG and the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility have entered into an agreement to form the Federation of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (FNM). This body is charged with hosting a biennial international scientific meeting, with the next meeting in September 2012 at Bologna, Italy, and FNM will replace the Joint international NGM meetings. The Asian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Association (ANMA) has agreed to join the FMN and will host a FNM meeting in 2014. Our colleagues from Latin America and Australia have signed MOUs to participate as associate members of FNM, and they will be represented on the Executive Board and Scientific Planning Committees of the FNM.

In keeping with our mission to promote science and research, 2 competitive research grants were awarded last year. ANMS-FBG is pleased to announce support for 2 new research grants for 2012 (see RFA below; deadline November 11, 2011). I encourage all members to apply and make use of this opportunity.

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, the Clinical Training Program for GI Fellows remains very successful and 20 fellows have received one month training in 2010-11, at 10 adult and pediatric Motility Centers of Excellence. Also, we have embarked on developing several ANMS-FBG Consensus Guidelines and Position papers and will be partnering with ESNM for these projects.

We are also engaged in a Pocket Guide and Flash Card project for key clinical areas such as IBS, Constipation, Gastroparesis and Dysphagia that will be of immense use to clinicians nationwide and will become available in spring 2012. The clinical practice and education committees have developed over 12 patient education brochures on common topics such as constipation, gastroparesis, GERD, IBS, etc and on common procedures such as esophageal/anorectal manometry or pH testing or biofeedback therapy that will be extremely beneficial to patients. Given that there is misinformation and poor understanding of these conditions, and very little authoritative information on these topics or procedures, these brochures should fill a much-needed void for our patients. Members can purchase these for a discounted nominal fee. See details on our web site.

The Membership Committee has initiated an excellent survey of our members to ascertain their needs and to involve the membership-at-large with our strategic directions and goals. Please participate in this important endeavor that will help to shape the future of our society.

The Education Committee is spearheading efforts to improve the GI Core Curriculum and training in Neurogastroenterology & GI Motility. We will partner with sister societies to develop better educational materials and assessment tools to improve knowledge and training in this subspecialty.

Where are we going?

We have another full year of activities planned to meet our member needs including the 7th Postgraduate Course with Live demonstrations and a Young Investigator Forum that will be held over 2.5 days in July 27-29, 2012 in Chicago. Their efforts will be supported by the Education Committee led by Adil Bharucha, John Pandolfino, Carlo DiLorenzo and Clinical Practice Committee led by Lin Chang.

We will also be asking you to participate in many electronic surveys including elections for new Council members and President-Elect, and a ballot for the name of our society as mandated by our merger agreements.

The Clinical Training Program Directors will be meeting in a month at ACG to revise the MCQs and teaching slide deck and resolve any concerns. ANMS-FBG continues to lead efforts on the issuance of new CPT codes and FDA biomarker initiatives, and will partner with our industry sponsors and sister GI institutions including IFFGD, NIH and visits to the National Capitol to promote our field. Plans are also underway for a research/strategic group summit with industry (pharma & device), FDA and NIH.

I am grateful for the outstanding support of our esteemed Council, and to each of you who have advised me during the past year and to our generous sponsors and friends.

As the leaves are changing color and the autumn air has become crisper with a whiff of cold breeze, and the global economy seesaws, thanks to your dedication, I am pleased to report from the warmer shores of Augusta, Georgia that our society is in a strong position, both academically and financially, and I am confident that we will build a great future for our society.

A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.
- Rosabeth Moss Kante

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
- Helen Keller