2016 Annual General Meeting

A message from the Convenor of the 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Gastrointestinal Pathology Society, Prof Priyanthi Kumarasinghe:

The second annual scientific session of the Australasian Gastrointestinal Pathology Society was held at The Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research Institute in Nedlands, Western Australia on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th October 2016. There were 105 participants including gastroenterologists, gastro-pancreatic surgeons, pathologists and registrars in pathology and gastroenterology. Pathologists were from across Australia and New Zealand. The Friday evening programme had a heavy focus on clinical issues. The Saturday programme covered a range of topics on gastritis, pancreatic pathology, appendiceal neoplasms and paediatric GI pathology with active participation by the audience. The discussions focused on “bread and butter” gastro-intestinal pathology as well as emerging concepts, contentious issues and advances in GI Pathology. The venue and catering were excellent and the meeting culminated in a very enjoyable conference dinner at the Black Cat lounge at Gargano’s in Nedlands with excellent food, wine, and music by Daniel.

The feedback received was fantastic and I am personally very pleased with the year 2016 culminating in the successful scientific meeting. In addition to sharing the experience and knowledge among the gastroitnestinal pathology community in Australasia the meeting was a fantastic opportunity for fellowship. I wish to thank the WA Cancer Council and PathWest for the sponsorships, the local organising committee headed by Cleo Robinson for the fantastic support and the speakers. A huge thank you goes to my clinical colleagues both in Perth and Sydney for their outstanding contributions.

During the year 2016 the membership of AGPS has grown significantly. A major success achieved through AGPs in the year 2016 was recruiting GI pathologists for important tasks such as RCPA QA membership, IAP presentations and research and scientific collaborations. Subsequent to the inaugural meeting in 2015 a website was created that keeps growing under the stewardship of Chris Toon. It was decided to strengthen the research arm with the appointment of Cleo Robinson as the Research Coordinator for AGPs. Ian Brown, the President for 2017 has undertaken the task to run AGPs for the year 2017, with the annual scientific session planned to be held in Queensland in 2017.

Wishing you all a Wonderful Christmas and a Fantastic New Year!