Board of Trustees Meeting, July 9 -12, 2010 Lisbon, Portugal
Members of the Board of Trustees at the 2010 Meeting
Jacinto Monteiro, Annina Schneider and Paul Manson welcome Trustees and Guests
The Board of Trustees
Meeting 2010 that took place from July 9 to 12, 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal was the largest ever AO Foundation Trustees Meeting-with the exception of the 2008 anniversary meeting-playing host to nearly 400 participants and guests. A stimulating and exciting scientific agenda and social program-which also included the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final-attracted Trustees and guests from all over the world to this well-organized
event, at which the highest legislative body of the AO Foundation convenes. With the necessary key decisions taken by the Board of Trustees, ensuring a clear, strong governing mandate for the coming years, this meeting marked the end of a very successful era for Paul Manson as President and the beginning of a new one for Norbert Haas. Norbert was elected President of the AO Foundation and took over office from Paul Manson at the conclusion of this years Trustees Meeting. Jaime Quintero, member of the AOLAT Executive
Board from Columbia, was elected as the new President-Elect by the Board of Trustees.
Joseph Gruss giving his talk on modern craniofacial surgery
On the first day of the meeting-as well as during his final summation-the members of the Board of Trustees showed their deep appreciation to Paul Manson for his tenure as President in a standing ovation, after he delivered an emotional, impactful speech entitled "Leadership, heroes and a conversation with an AO Founder". His contribution followed on from tributes to other leading lights in the AO Foundation, who had passed away during the previous year-Bruno Nösberger, Ernesto Zerbi, and August Guggenbühl-and a lecture from Hansjörg Wyss' entitled "Remembering Martin Allgöwer".
Awards
Paul Demmer, Chairman of the Socio Economic Committee
(AOSEC), demonstrated how AOSEC improves patient care in Latin American, Asian and African countries, where resources for health expenditure are extremely limited. Paul, who handed over the chair of AOSEC to his successor John Croser, clearly defined ways of sustainable, local capacity building.
Paul Demmer talks about improving the AO in financially challenged countries
Acknowledging his tireless commitment and considerable achievements in challenging circumstances, the AO awarded Paul Demmer the Hardy Weber Prize 2010 for outstanding contribution to education.
The AO Foundation's Canadian Trustees have begun to establish a trend for being awarded the Order of Canada, the highest distinction that can be bestowed upon a Canadian citizen. In 2007, Joseph Schatzker was appointed "Member of the Order of Canada" for his contributions to orthopedic surgery, particularly for introducing surgical procedures for the internal fixation of fractures to North American surgeons. This was followed in 2009 by Marvin Tile being appointed "Member of the Order of Canada" for his
contributions as a clinical orthopedic surgeon, teacher, and groundbreaking researcher. Marvin's achievement was honored in an award celebration during the general social program.
Trustees and spouses enjoy the Torre de Belém
Emanuel Gautier (AOTrauma) and Romano Matthys (as group leader
representing the ARI team) were jointly awarded the TK Innovation Prize 2009 by Tim Pohlemann for their work as clinician and technician respectively on Play Ground - a technical playground for orthopedic trauma surgeons which focuses on developing surgical skill.
Paul Manson awarded Paul Pavlov, member of the Academic Council
and AOSpine International Board, the 2009 AO Recognition Award for lifetime achievement and contributions in the field of spine surgery.
Jesse Jupiter receives his appointment of Honorary Trustee from Paul Manson
At the final summation, Jesse Jupiter was appointed Honorary Trustee of the AO Foundation for his exceptional contributions and achievements.
On the final day of the event, Adrian Sugar awarded the Berton Rahn Research Prize, from a pool of 17 projects completed in 2008/2009, to Teppo Järvinen from the Department of Orthopaedics, Tampere University Hospital, Finland for his research on the skeletal effects of estrogen. Jarvinen's research conclusions provoked interest amongst the participants and a robust discussion ensued at the conclusion of his presentation.
AO Foundation's activities in areas with limited resources and in disaster relief
In addition to Paul Demmer's presentation on SEC activities, further speakers discussed medical issues in areas with limited resources as well as the AO Foundation's potential activities in disaster relief.
Members of the AOEM are introduced to the Trustees by Markus Rauh
Jim Harrison, who has been living and working in Malawi for more than ten years, followed up on his excellent presentation at the Chicago Trustees Meeting last year with another fascinating insight into the current situation there. He illustrated his unerring commitment and considerable achievements under adverse conditions with his usual modest demeanor. Jim suggested steps that the AO could reasonably take in relation to the developing world and in a spontaneous, and greatly appreciated gesture, a number of
AO Foundation Trustees donated per-diems in excess of CHF16,000 to Jim Harrison's Malawi project. TK Innovation prize winner Emanuel Gautier donated his award money to the AOSEC Malawi fund and Paul Manson followed suit, donating his thank you gift from the AO Foundation, to Malawi.
Presentations on the Haiti disaster relief and the AO-Synthes response by Steve Schwartz, and on the development of an educational program for fracture care specialists in Haiti by Andrew Pollak were well received additions to the scientific program.
Trustees deep in discussion during a coffee break
Prior to the Trustees Meeting, the AOVA
approved the direction-setting proposals from the AO's Disaster Relief Task Force-of which both aforementioned presenters are members-on how the Foundation should get involved in sustainable disaster relief in association with specialized organizations. The task force was mandated to present a final concept for approval by the end of 2010. The AOVA also agreed to support Andrew Pollak's educational
program, in collaboration with the universities of Maryland and Notre Dame du Haiti and the Catholic Relief Services, in Haitian fracture care education.
The AO around the globe
Andrey Volna gave a fast-paced, fascinating window into the world of AO in the 15 post-Soviet states in varying social and economic situations, demonstrating to the audience that language is one of the biggest issues in delivering education across the post soviet states-Russian is far more widely spoken and understood than English. Volna concluded his presentation with a heartfelt thanks to James Hughes for his enormous commitment to supporting the teaching efforts of the AO across the post-Soviet states.
Enjoying the festivities on the night of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Final
AO Middle East-the newest region, an animated Mamoun Kremli treated the Trustees to a whistle stop tour of the history and future of this racially and religiously varied region. He delivered anecdotes in addition to hard facts and figures to support his lively presentation by showing how so much has been achieved on a limited budget thanks to the dedication to teaching of the local faculty and the friendships that have broken down borders.
Breakout sessions and updates ensure a constant flow of information
On day two and three of the meeting, 90 minutes were dedicated each day to parallel breakout sessions delivered by Trustees and members of Executive Management to their fellow participants on relevant clinical issues. Topics ranged from the future of clinical research by Beate Hanson using roulette wheels to illustrate what casinos can teach us about bias to the clinical relevance of computer aided surgery in different surgical fields delivered by CMF and Trauma surgeons and the challenges of posttraumatic craniofacial
reconstruction from University of Washington surgeon, Joseph Gruss.
S Jay Olshansky elaborates on how to design humans to last in the quest for immortality
Updates on CRPs
and CPPs
as well as science, research and education breakthroughs ensured the Trustees go home with an insight into the hard work that is going on around the AO Foundation network throughout the year.
To inspire Trustees and guests to maintain their form, aging expert SJ Olshansky lectured a keenly interested audience on the vagaries of aging throughout the world. 'Quest for immortality-designing humans to last', contributed to the international debate on the future of human health and longevity, with suggestions for how the body could be better designed to last longer, statistics on the growth in obesity around the globe and the part that could play in decreased life expectancy as well as
reminders about the importance of quality of life in the case of increased life expectancy.
Before all is said and done
At the end of a long day of lectures and meetings the well structured and professionally administered social program offered Trustees and guests time to share ideas and experiences and build friendships in beautiful cultural settings over three evenings. A highlight for many was a visit on the final night to the unparalleled UNESCO World Heritage site of Sintra, once home to Portugese aristocracy who chose it as a location for their palaces followed by dinner in the highly atmospheric Colares Wine Cellar.
Paul Manson hands over the key to the AO Foundation to Norbert Haas
The very successful Board of Trustees Meeting 2010 concluded with a final summation by outgoing President Paul Manson including recognition of Trustees and Presidency handover and a short presentation from Norbert Haas paying tribute to Paul for his hard work over the previous two years and offering Trustees a glimpse of what to expect for the Board of Trustees Meeting 2011 in Berlin.
Click here to view the image gallery from the Board of Trustees Meeting.
Trustees wearing a local hat on the occasion of the official photo session
