SPC President Message

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Dearest gentle readers trainees,

This is in fact Texas! By the time you read this, we’ll be getting ready for the SER Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas. There’s quite a lot to include in my final message as SPC president, so let’s begin.

First, I want to thank the Education co-chairs Estela and Lisha for all of their work planning SPC journal clubs and inviting some great speakers. The May Journal club was led by Dr. Dawid Gondek discussing lifecourse theories characterizing associations between maternal depression and offspring depression. If you missed it, make sure to check out the recording here (https://epiresearch.org/serpresents/) .

Next, on to the Annual Meeting. Just like last year, we will be using the Whova app. If you haven’t yet, be sure to download it on your phones. It is a great way to socialize and stay organized. Whova will include the conference schedule, messaging interface, how-to resources, job postings and much more. In addition to being available on the app, we will also have different board members staffing the SPC table in Moontower hall during the poster sessions and breaks. Please stop by to chat, ask about how to get involved with SPC, ask for directions or just take a break!

Also, SPC will be hosting many events during the conference (I want to give a hearty thank you to our program co-chairs Joëlle and Taylor for their hard work on planning these). We’ve got the fun run (it is Texas in the summer, so please make sure to hydrate!), breakfast with the experts, a career panel and many more. For a full rundown of the events, check out the schedule here: https://epiresearch.org/student-and-postdoc-meeting-events/. I want to highlight the SPC Social at 7:30pm on Thursday. It is a great way to meet other trainees in a more relaxed and informal setting. This year, we’re venturing to the Fareground Food Hall. I hope to see you all there. I want to reiterate that it will be hot in Texas, with temperatures averaging in the 90°F. Please make sure to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water and eating foods with high water content. Watermelon is a favorite of mine!

Finally, if you’ve made it this far (and understood my pop culture references), thank you. The time went by far too quickly. I have the best time serving on SPC and have enjoyed working with some incredible people. After the Annual Meeting, I will be stepping in as Past President while Alvin Thomas takes over President. I would like to acknowledge the other SPC Board members who will be rotating off – Sharia Ahmed (Past President), Ruby Barnard-Mayers (Media), Joëlle Atere-Roberts (Program), Estela Blanco (Education) and Domonique Reed (DEI). Thank you for your service and dedication to SPC! We have some wonderful new people joining the board to pick up the mantle so please look out for Alvin’s first message introducing you to the new crew!

See y’all in Texas!

Nedghie Adrien
SER SPC President