From the Program Chair

From the Program Chair PROGRAM COMMITTEE Program Chair Donna Johnson, MD Poster Chair William Grobman, MD Postgraduate Course Chair Andrew Helfgott, MD Scientific Forums/ Special Interest Groups Chair Sean Blackwell, MD Local Arrangements Chair Thomas Musci, MD Emeritus Member Mary Norton, MD Exhibits Liaison Daniel O’Keeffe, MD

FUTURE MEETINGS 34th Annual Meeting February 3–8, 2014 Hilton Riverside New Orleans 35th Annual Meeting February 2–7, 2015 Hilton Bayfront San Diego 36th Annual Meeting February 1–6, 2016 Hilton Atlanta

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Society for Maternal–Fetal Medicine 409 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024 • www.smfm.org Dear Friends and Colleagues, It is my great pleasure to welcome you to The Pregnancy Meeting, the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the beautiful city of San Francisco. This year marks the 40th anniversary of our specialty. We have built upon the success of our founders and previous meetings to provide another outstanding program for our members and guests. This year we received 1502 abstracts, a record number. Each abstract was scored by 4 reviewers with expertise in the abstract topic. Abstracts on the cusp between oral and poster presentations or abstracts with discrepant scores were sent to 4 Donna D. Johnson, MD senior reviewers. Our 106 general reviewers and 30 senior reviewers did an outstanding job. Putting together the scientific program would not be possible without the tremendous effort of the reviewers. I would like to sincerely thank you for your help and dedication in thoughtfully reviewing each abstract. When all the scoring was completed, 86 top scoring abstracts were chosen for 2 plenary and 8 concurrent oral sessions. In addition, 750 abstracts were accepted for poster presentations. Unfortunately, due to limitations in space and time, 666 abstracts were rejected (rejection rate: 42%). The selection and scoring is not easy and many of the rejected abstracts contained interesting and worthy scientific information. I truly appreciate the efforts and hard work of all authors and, especially, those whose abstracts could not be accepted for presentation. I sincerely apologize for our inability to accept more presentations into the program. As in previous years, the scientific program includes an outstanding diversity of research in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, including clinical, basic, and translational work submitted by investigators at all levels of their careers, and from the US as well as overseas. The oral sessions include high quality primary and secondary analyses from randomized controlled trials, prospective observational studies, and bench studies in topics encompassing the depth and breadth of our specialty. The future of our society is very bright as evidenced by the quality of the presentations given by fellows and residents. Almost one-half of all abstracts accepted in the program were submitted by our fellows or residents. Fellowship program directors and mentors play a critical role in development of our future clinicians and scientists and should be commended for a job well done. This year’s program includes 12 outstanding postgraduate course offerings. In prior years, debate style courses have been the most popular; therefore, many of our courses are in a debate format. We have also added more audience response systems to the curriculum. The wide selection of postgraduate courses is complemented by 14 scientific forum sessions to be held on Wednesday, February 13th, and by 10 Round Table Luncheon presentations given by nationally and internationally renowned speakers on Thursday, Supplement to JANUARY 2013 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology

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From the Program Chair February 14th and Friday, February 15th. I also would like to acknowledge all the Postgraduate course chairs, leaders of the scientific forums, and our round table speakers for their hard work and dedication. I want to especially thank the Postgraduate chairs for completion of the CME application. This responsibility is truly daunting. The “Late-Breaking Research” session was introduced at the 32nd annual meeting and was a resounding success. This session showcases high impact research completed after the August abstract deadline. One to 2 abstracts will be presented in an early evening session on Friday at 5:15 pm. In addition to the late breaking abstract presentations, the Friday session will include the award ceremony and a special invited lecturer. At the award ceremony, we will recognize the best presentation in each oral and poster session, as well as the Dru Carlson Award for the best abstract in Ultrasound/Genetics, the March of Dimes Award for the best abstract in Prematurity, and the Norman Gant Award for the best abstract in Maternal Medicine. This year, Dr Michael Lu is our honorary member at the meeting and will give the special lecture. The Pregnancy Meeting results from the efforts of numerous individuals, but, primarily from the dedication and outstanding organizational skills and knowledge of our Executive Director, Patricia Stahr and her excellent team of Terri Mobley and Julie Miller. They truly represent the heart and soul of SMFM. It is undoubtedly their hard work and dedication that brings success to the meeting and I sincerely appreciate their assistance in helping me navigate this process. They always cheerfully answered my many phone calls, even after hours and on weekends. I would also like to recognize the 2 prior Program Chairs: Drs Alfred Abuhamad and Mary Norton. They mentored me during their tenure and provided a tremendous amount of support and encour-

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www.AJOG.org agement to me this year. I would also like to recognize the other Program Committee members: Drs Bill Grobman (Poster Chair), Andy Helfgott (Postgraduate Course Chair), and Sean Blackwell (Scientific Forum Chair). Bill, Andy, and Sean have shouldered a tremendous amount of responsibility and have done so with the highest standards. I am grateful for the advice and assistance provided by each of you. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed working with each of you. I am forever indebted for your tremendous support and friendship over the past year. Dr Tom Musci is our Local Arrangements Chairman. He has gone the extra mile to introduce you to San Francisco and to provide a listing of local restaurants and activities which have been posted on our SMFM Facebook page and SMFM website at www.smfm.org. Finally, I would like to thank the SMFM leadership, Dr Kate Menard as President, Dr Brian Mercer as President-Elect, Dr George Saade as Past President, Dr Dan O’Keeffe as Executive Vice President, members of the Executive Committee and Board in entrusting me with planning and oversight of this meeting; it is an honor and a privilege that I will cherish for years to come. We hope that this meeting meets and exceeds your expectations and that you will enjoy the city of San Francisco with your friends and colleagues. Warmest regards,

Donna D. Johnson, MD Program Chair, SMFM 2013

American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Supplement to JANUARY 2013