President’s Letter from Bill Steinbach – The View from PAS

It takes a lot to find yourself in a Hawaiian paradise, amongst cherished colleagues, sharing your life’s passion, and yet be profoundly saddened. Don’t get me wrong, all of the above was beyond amazing. I could go on for several paragraphs about how fortunate I was to be in Honolulu as PIDS helped to host PAS, as well as having PIDS friends send a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ floating out across the seawater lagoon next to the Rainbow Tower Patio.

Instead, I was also overwhelmed by the sense that so much of what we do (and that the resources we rely on to do it) is under threat. Session after session, speaker after speaker all pointed back to the opportunities made available via federal grants, federal data collections, and/or the freedom to direct research in the areas of a researcher’s own choosing based on real needs.

The United States has spent the better part of a century building up the most prodigious, enviable, life-altering research apparatus the world has ever known. We made cutting edge breakthroughs, developed vaccines, expanded therapeutics, and improved the lives of people around the world. We became a magnet for the best scientists, at home and abroad, and we delivered by saving countless lives and improving the quality of those lives.

What I saw at PAS once again demonstrated all the good we can do for children and humanity when we are supported. Unfortunately, many of these accomplishments have been undermined. Funding has been indiscriminately slashed, organizations have been eliminated or dismantled, misinformation has been elevated, diseases regarded as eliminated have made seismic returns, and so much more.

Perhaps the most dispiriting part of this while at PAS was the thought of how it will affect residents, trainees, med students and those earlier in their studies who aspire to join our ranks. PAS always draws a large contingent of these individuals. I had the opportunity to address some in the Trainee Zone these past two years where I focused my talk on what I thought would be their greatest early concern: How to land a great job.

What is their greatest concern now? How many of them may now be dissuaded from pursuing their passion under these circumstances? How many may look to recruitment efforts now underway by nations such as Canada, China and members of the European Union? Where might such an exodus – whether away from academic research or to other countries – lead science or our specialty?

These are concerns we must work to address, both as a society and as a collective scientific community. The PIDS Advocacy Task Force is meeting regularly to find ways we can influence things at the federal and state levels, the Board and Executive Committee are working to expand funding opportunities, and our other Society committees are dedicating their time to develop resources and trainings to strengthen our abilities and the results we can deliver to our patients.

At the risk of reminding you I spent six days in Hawaii, allow me to share one final comparison to our situation and life on the islands. Storms can look quite ominous there, like the day at the beach will be ruined. But the thing is, storms can quickly pass, the sun always returns, and rainbows hold the promise of better fortunes ahead. Mahalo.