It is always fun to conceptualize, plan, and then work hard to make an issue a reality, but our March/April issue is extra special. Firstly and evidently, it is a feast for the eyes – a celebration of the beauty of pathology, which is hard not to love. Secondly, as an added bonus, this particular issue grants us the opportunity to collaborate and communicate closely with many readers from all over the world. We asked for your best artwork and you sure did deliver! You are a very talented bunch. Our special art of pathology issue – now in its eighth iteration – is dedicated to the most beautiful, interesting, quirky, and sometimes surprising imagery from the field of pathology – and we sincerely hope you enjoy it. Please let us know which one is your favorite.
Speaking of communicating with many readers, we headed over to USCAP 2023 in New Orleans and it was refreshing to meet some of you in the flesh! The conference was well attended and vibrant – and “Facing the Unknown” was a great theme. But my highlight was the 2023 Maude Abbott Legacy Lecture by Elizabeth Montgomery from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. As part of her lecture, Montgomery paid tribute to Abbott – and I was inspired by the latter woman’s resilience and perseverance. Abbott was, in the late 1800s, rejected by McGill University Medical School, but, by the 1930s, she was regarded by the medical community as “the leading authority on congenital cardiac disease.”
While we’re paying tribute to strong women, I was recently reminded of the words of Mary Lasker, a pioneer of medical research advocacy and philanthropist, who was credited with playing a major role in significantly expanding the budget of the US’ National Institutes: “If you think research is expensive, try disease.” Her blunt but effective call to action is still very much true today; the current NIH budget of US$47.5 billion is nowhere near the close to US$4 trillion that is spent annually on healthcare in the US for people suffering from chronic diseases.
As we celebrate World Health Day on April 7, it is important to remember that much work is yet to be done to guarantee “Health for All” – the theme for this year’s commemoration.
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