Dear AMLI Members:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as AMLI president for the next two years.  I look forward to working with the council and the membership to advance the mission of the AMLI which reads as follows:

“… The organization’s mission is to improve the practice of clinical immunology laboratory testing by encouraging education and training of all individuals in the organization, maximizing the quality of test procedures, promoting the exchange of information, supporting clinical research efforts, and improving patient care.”

To do this, I will focus on two broad goals:

1. Maximize the reach of our annual meeting

Our primary approach to achieving our mission has been our annual meeting.  The AMLI annual meeting consistently obtains outstanding reviews from attendees.  It is an amazing venue for education and training of bench level technologists, supervisor/managers, laboratory directors, and physicians.  It provides direct access to vendors of the tools of our trade so that we have access to cutting edge methods we use in our practices.  It is also a conduit of information on novel research that will lead to the laboratory testing techniques and applications of the future.  Unfortunately, we are all feeling the impact of restricted travel budgets which makes attendance at the meeting difficult.   However, we don’t want the inability to attend the annual meeting to mean that one cannot reap the benefits of the meeting.  Council is actively pursuing approaches to achieve this goal including the use of information technology via our new Website.  We will use the Website to keep you update on our progress.

2. Increase our membership 

I think it goes without saying that increasing our membership is important.  I challenge each of you to recruit a new member to the AMLI.  Additionally, we will continue to partner with other societies that share our mission.  In this regard, the AMLI will be sponsoring a symposium at the AAI Annual Meeting in 2010.  We will seek other interactions with societies to increase the exposure of the AMLI.  Keep checking the AMLI Website for further details on this and other AMLI sponsored events. 

I would like to thank the AMLI council and committee chairs/members for their efforts on behalf of the society.  I want to thank Ron Harbeck for his service as president over the past two years.  This doesn’t mean his work is done as I will call upon his services as immediate past president.  Barbara Detrick deserves special thanks for her tireless efforts and energies in support of this Society.  Next, I would like to acknowledge our administrator, Maggie Fogel, who has done an outstanding job for the society.  Without her efforts, we would not be able to provide the services we do for our membership.  Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank you, the AMLI membership for your continued support of the AMLI.  I call upon you to actively participate by contacting the leadership of the society with your thoughts, comments, and concerns.  This is your society and we need you to let us know what you need and if we are meeting those needs.

Thanks and best wishes!

John Schmitz, Ph.D, D(ABMLI, ABHI)