This issue of Scribe will find many of you packing suitcases, posters, and slide presentations for the Bordeaux ICPE meeting. A record attendance is ensured thanks to the efforts of Conference Chair Nicholas Moore, Annie Fourier and the many volunteers of the Core Committee and Scientific Program Committee.

A full year has passed since the ICPE meeting in Philadelphia and we are ready once more to share experiences about studies, projects, policies and much more. It has certainly been a busy year for ISPE members. In retrospect, it is apparent that volunteers and staff on a number of key committees and councils were very active this past year. In particular the Program Committees for Bordeaux and Baltimore (the latter chaired by Sue West), Membership Committee (chaired by Annette Stemhagen), Finance Committee and the newly created Audit Committee (both chaired by Judith Jones), Development Committee (co-chaired by Nancy Dreyer, The Americas; Cees Schep, Europe, and Kuni Hayashi, Japan), Publications Committee (chaired by Dan Fife), Education Committee (chaired by Jacques LeLorier), Nominations & Honors & Awards (chaired by Tom MacDonald), Public Relations (chaired by Yola Moride), and Student Council (chaired by Nicole Hartnell). These committees have worked on strengthening educational programs at our meetings, increasing the numbers of individual and institutional/organizational members worldwide, developing and disseminating information about ISPE, redesigning the website, creating an online version of Scribe (edited by Rizwan Ahmad), raising funds, and strengthening links with organizations, institutions and other professional societies.

On the educational side, the two-tracked, introductory & advanced training programs have been a standard for our annual conferences, with record registrations for the upcoming Bordeaux meeting. This model was successfully tested at the Baltimore midyear meeting in April and seems to be here to stay for future midyear meetings. The Education Committee also has worked hard to offer ISPE-sponsored education courses available on a stand-alone basis to organizations. The Bordeaux meeting will also see several other Philadelphia "firsts" designed to strengthen ISPE's member base continued; e.g., student targeted activities (skills workshop, informal dinner), the Academic Showcase, and the induction of the second class of Fellows (FISPE — Fellow of ISPE). .

Key for ISPE is the strong participation in the elections of volunteer leaders of the Society. A big THANK YOU to all those members who stood for election. Results will be announced in Bordeaux during the Annual Meeting of Members.

Also thanks to Steve Lanes' Ad Hoc Committee and all those of you providing comments on the drafts posted to the membership for elaborating the new updated Guidelines for Good Pharmacoepidemiology Practice that will be soon posted on the website, and published in Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety.

ISPE has also become increasingly visible in the policy arena. In addition to the strong leadership role that ISPE members play individually, ISPE, as a Society, has provided its comments and perspectives on a number of guidelines and issues key to the fields of safety, epidemiology and risk management internationally. Through the coordination of Judith Jones, Elizabeth Andrews, and Annette Stemhagen, ISPE membership provided comments to the US FDA Draft Risk Management Guidance Documents. Similarly, Tom MacDonald, Bram Hartzema and Corinne de Vries coordinated ISPE responses and input to the review of Yellow Card Access in the United Kingdom, the US FDA Draft Guidance for Industry Pharmacogenomics Data Submission, and the US Institute of Medicine Committee on Postmarket Surveillance of Pediatric Medical Devices respectively.

The attention on Therapeutic Risk Management is increasing, and those active in pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacovigilance and safety have, and continue to play, a key role in its implementation. Therefore it is important that our uniquely diverse membership not only provide input into regulatory guidelines that will shape the way risk management and epidemiology are practiced, but also that we share practices and experiences. A first step was to continue to emphasize risk management at the annual conference. The next step is to consolidate these experiences into guidance that the Society will share with others. An Ad Hoc Working Group, chaired by Steve Lanes, has initiated this work.

Earlier this month, ISPE members had a strong presence at the 8^th World Congress of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics in Brisbane, Australia. ISPE members (refer to John McEwen's article in this Scribe issue) gave plenary and symposia presentations, chaired sessions, etc. This meeting offered a unique opportunity to liaise with the cornerstone discipline of pharmacology and with colleagues from the Australasian and Western Asia Pacific Regions. To continue to create links and development opportunities for ISPE, we have identified a number of opportunities, such as active participation at the 2006 North American Congress of Epidemiology in Seattle (ISPE liaison Susan Sacks), and the 2007 Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress in Amsterdam (ISPE liaison Bert Leufkens).

It is hard to believe the year is almost over. It has been a truly impressive year for ISPE. And it has been an honor, and my sincere pleasure, to have had the opportunity to serve as your President during this exciting time. Thank you very much for your support, encouragement, and participation. And finally, to all volunteers on committees and councils, ISPE staff, Directors of the Board, and particularly to Judith Jones, Frank May, Gerry Faich, Tom Macdonald and Mark Epstein, who have been instrumental as the ISPE Executive Committee, as well as fun to work with, thank you.

See you soon in Bordeaux!

Susana

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