Letter from the President

Dear Colleagues,

It’s been a few months since I took over from Jorge as your president. In those few months I’ve witnessed various activities within our IUGA community that were all carried out with great enthusiasm! Of some, I was a part and experienced the positive vibes! IUGA is a very active society with numerous volunteers who aim to improve the lives of women across the globe and a pleasure to be involved in.

One of the goals I have for my term as president is to find ways to increase the impact factor of the IUJ. Our new Editors-in-Chief, Maria Bortolini and Kaven Baessler, are working hard and have the same aim. This will of course take time, but they’re very passionate and determined to reach that goal. Meanwhile, and I quote the Editors-in-Chief freely, it is important that the content of our journal be of significant impact to our readers, who will then be able to use new and up-to-date knowledge in their clinical and research work.

I witnessed a very interested audience in a webinar of the Neuro-urogynecology and Pelvic Pain Special Interest Group (SIG), of which KJ Ng is the new chair. The invited speaker was Dr. Linda Brubaker, who gave a very inspirational lecture on the microbiome and answered many questions of participants. And I have had the honor to be involved in one of the IUC Chapters (International Urogynecological Consultation) which is evolving very nicely, thanks to excellent cooperation of the members. Several chapters have already been published in the IUJ. This is a project IUGA can truly be proud of, and members will benefit from comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge.

One of the other goals I hope to achieve is to help restructure FIUGA (Foundation for International Urogynecological Assistance) and its relationship to IUGA. FIUGA has a very active Board and under the passionate leadership of Aparna Hegde has been able to obtain a respectable donation in the form of an unrestricted grant. This support will definitely help to realize some of the ideas the Board has for new initiatives.

Furthermore, I have the pleasure to refer you to the article on the PEOPLE trial, the results of which have just been published in JAMA. This article comes from Lisa van der Vaart. Dr. van der Vaart is a young IUGA member, PhD candidate and researcher.

And last but not least, the preparations for our Annual Meeting in The Hague are in full swing! It will be a fantastic scientific meeting with the renowned Professor Barber who will deliver the Ulf Ulmsten Lecture, great workshops, abstract sessions and mini-state-of the art lectures as well as a great social program. If you are interested in getting to know Holland by bike, there is a great opportunity for you on Tuesday prior to the meeting. Of course, there is also the FIUGA Fun Walk/Run for Pelvic Floor Disorders, and on Friday evening, a true festive networking event on the beach that you won’t want to miss! And, if that isn’t enough, on Saturday evening we conclude with a smashing Public Forum.

I hope to meet many of you in person in The Hague and if that’s not possible for you, then I do hope you enjoy attending the virtual meeting.

I am excited and very much look forward to meeting you!

Fred Milani