President’s Letter from Bill Steinbach – The Feeling Heading Into IDWeek

What a difference a year makes. I think it’s safe to say that no one would have predicted a month ahead of IDWeek 2024 that all childhood vaccines, the fundamental idea of science, and the federal institutions safeguarding all of this would suffer such a deluge of misinformation and chaos as we sit just over a month from IDWeek 2025. No one could have predicted the near constant need for PIDS statements several times a week about the latest newly created crisis. Yet here we are.

But each and every one of us has spent countless hours learning our trade and investing in our patients. We didn’t choose the path of least resistance when we became pediatric infectious diseases professionals. We opted for hard challenges and relied on our communities of colleagues, mentors and instructors to help us grow into our abilities to meet those challenges. It is undeniably a time to come together to be reinspired, refocus and reinvest.

I hope all of you who are able will join us for IDWeek in Atlanta (if you have yet to register, you have until September 19 to take advantage of the price discount you receive as a PIDS member benefit). IDWeek is an important meeting for us, for our own education and reconnection, to recharge as to why we do what we do, and to see our trusted friends in the field. It is the single largest gathering of ID professionals of the year.

It’s also during this large ID gathering that us pediatric ID folks steal away for a special celebration amongst ourselves. The PIDS Foundation Annual Dinner has blossomed into a large festive evening that must be experienced. Our theme for 2025 is Better Together (tickets are available until September 15). I encourage you to come join us at the Georgia Aquarium where we’ll mingle while sipping our own cocktail (hello, PIDS Punch) in the glorious Ocean Ballroom, which features viewing tanks of some of their lovely fish, sea turtle, and whale inhabitants!

It’s rough out there. It’s likely to be that way for some time. At a recent leadership meeting I likened this moment in time to June 2020, a few months into something where we did not know how long it would last or how difficult it would get, and we needed to continue and press forward. Gathering at IDWeek and the Annual Dinner will be a welcome respite from the upheaval. Hopefully, we will return from Atlanta with renewed commitment to helping the public understand the difference vaccines, science and research, and our cherished institutions have in the health and well-being of our children and our world. See you in Atlanta.