One For All and All For One
Partnership – potential disaster lurks at the first signs of a wobble, but when it’s strong, there are no limits to what it can achieve.
You’ll notice that the power of partnerships is a key theme in this month’s issue. I guess the idea that unity adds strength is no great revelation; anyone can form a partnership – it’s making it a success that’s the hard work and that stands true for anything, from managing a multi-billion Euro corporation to marriage!
In UK politics this week, the main opposition party, Labour, is suffering from partnership nerves; just a few months away from an election that could see them voted into power, members of the party are admitting, off the record (of course), that they’re not happy with their leader, Ed Miliband. Interestingly the resulting media frenzy has taken some of the attention from the current Prime Minister’s party, which has seen members defect to the UK Independence Party in recent months. It’ll be interesting to see how these partnership wobbles will affect the results on polling day in May...
Conversely, an example of strength in numbers was visible on November 5, when the organizers of International Pathology Day 2014 united more than 40 international societies this year, to pull off the field's first global educational and awareness-raising event. Such was the success of the activities (which saw hundreds of events taking place around the world) that plans are already being made for 2015. Who’s betting it’ll be even bigger next year? Congratulations to the organizers and participants of this ground breaking and valuable initiative.
This month's cover article provides another example, featuring inspirational people who have formed vital, international networks to improve and further laboratory medicine. Facing many challenges along the way, these people speak of how strength in unity has allowed them to overcome obstacles and to achieve great things. Read about how far they’ve come and what hurdles still lie ahead here.
And speaking of international networks… I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to ‘meet with’ some of you via Twitter recently. It’s so interesting to see the topics that are getting you interested and engaged. Controversies over the value of prostate and lung cancer routine diagnostics, and mind-boggling new methods of targeting antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains and cancers have all got you talking this month. Rest assured, we’re paying attention, so expect to see some familiar themes in coming issues of The Pathologist.
After graduating with a pharmacology degree, I began my career in scientific publishing and communications. Now with more than 16 years of experience in this field, my career has seen me heading up editorial and writing teams at Datamonitor, Advanstar and KnowledgePoint360 group. My past experiences have taught me something very important – that you have to enjoy working with, and have respect for your colleagues. It’s this that drew me to Texere where I now work with old colleagues and new. Though we are a hugely diverse team, we share several things in common – a real desire to work hard to succeed, to be the best at what we do, never to settle for second best, and to have fun while we do it. I am now honored to serve as Editor of The Pathologist and Editorial Director of Texere Publishing.
