Annual Report 2003

19 December 2003

Dear Members and Friends,
Chers Membres et Amis,
Liebe Mitglieder und Freunde,

The 77th year of the Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum followed the traditions of the Society, however, again showing the strength and the potentials of our Society and its members, in the spirit of the Amicitiae Sacrum. We met in Helsinki, Finland, for the second time in our history. In 1951 we celebrated in Helsinki the 25th Anniversary of the Society, and this very year Finland was chosen as the venue in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of academic otorhinolaryngology in Finland: the first Chair of Otorhinolaryngology in Finland was founded at the University of Helsinki on 29 August 1903. Altogether 202 attendants, 61 accompanying persons included, participated in the meeting on 24-27 August, with Professor Emeritus Tauno Palva as Honorary President, Professor Reidar Grénman as President and Professor Jukka Ylikoski as Vice-President.

The Opening Ceremony at the Marina Congress Center, the venue of the meeting, was one of the highlights of the meeting. Mrs Tarja Halonen, the President of the Republic of Finland, honoured the occasion with her presence. After the Welcome Addresses by the President of the Collegium and Professor Kari Raivio, Chancellor of the University of Helsinki, Prof Matti Klinge, the Professor of History at the same university, gave an Opening Lecture on “Finland in Europe”, describing in our three official languages the position of Finland in the European context, from a historical and cultural point of view. After some traditional Finnish and international songs given by the Helsinki University Male Voice Choir and Dr Mari Markkanen-Leppänen (an otolaryngologist), the President of the Collegium ended the occasion by forwarding the Collegium banner to the President of the Republic.

The three-day scientific program consisted of two minisymposia, eight free paper sessions and a guided poster session. Professors Paul van den Broek from Nijmegen and Eberhart Stennert from Cologne chaired the first minisymposium on New Frontiers in Head and Neck Oncology. That symposium, with the most advanced Finnish oncologists as speakers, updated us with the newest knowledge of head and neck carcinogenesis. One of the speakers, Heikki Joensuu, Professor of Oncology from Helsinki presented us the first results ever on the boron neutron capture therapy in advanced head and neck cancer. The second symposium, chaired by Professor Matti Anniko from Uppsala and Jukka Ylikoski from Helsinki, gave us New Insights into the Structural and Functional Basis of Cochlear Hearing Loss and Tinnitus. The other program included 80 oral presentations by the members or their guests and 24 posters. This time especially papers on head and neck oncology were very well represented, covering the field from basic research to the clinics as well as to the quality of life. Also the latest advancements in cochlear and other types of implantations to improve hearing as well as in vestibular research were largely presented by the speakers.

The posters had a separate session, where the authors were allowed 7-10 minutes for their presentations. That made them not much different from free paper presentations, the main difference being that they were discussed simultaneously in four groups, different in their contents, led by Professors Matti Anniko, Paul Bretlau, Claes Möller and Juhani Nuutinen. Otherwise we have not had simultaneous sessions, but the members may act as poster and free paper presenters in turns at successive meetings, which makes both types of presentations possible. This also meant that the scientific quality of the posters was generally high, as it was in the other program.

Both the oral and poster presentations will be published, after regular peer-review, in the Acta Oto-Laryngologica CORLAS issue.

The Business Meeting was held on Monday afternoon, 25th August:

1. President Reidar Grénman welcomed the members.
    
2. The President commemorated the members who had passed away since the last meeting in Noordwijk: Harry Beagley (New Zealand), Paolo Filippi (Italy), Sir Donald Harrison (Great Britain), Howard House (USA), Leonard Jongkees (the Netherlands) and Carl Rudolf Pfaltz-Koelliker, to us Peter Pfaltz (Switzerland). The members honoured the memory of these respected Honorary Members standing and with a moment of silence.
    
3. The Annual Report 2002 was approved without any additions or comments.
    
4. The following candidates, proposed by the respective national groups, and reviewed by the Credentials Committee, were unanimously accepted as new members: Olli-Pekka Alho (Finland), Maurizio Barbara (Italy), Mario Bussi (Italy), Judy R Dubno (USA), Silvarosa Grassi (Italy), Anil K Lalwani (USA), Måns Magnusson (Sweden), Michael J McKenna (USA), Fawzi Saheb (the first member from Jordan), Stephan Schmid (Switzerland), Myung-Whun Sung (Korea), Rafael Urquiza (Spain) and Joo-Heon Yoon (Korea). The total number of members is now 480, from 50 countries. The new members will introduce themselves at our next meeting in Salvador, Brazil.
    
5. The Financial Report for the year 2002/2003, presented by our Treasurer René Dauman, was approved. Our finances showed a positive balance of € 76717. The annual subscription fee will be unchanged, € 50.
    
6. The Dutch Collegium group informed that they have decided to donate the surplus of the Noordwijk meeting, € 20 000, to the Collegium to support the participation of those with poor economical possibilities in the future meetings. The Collegium received the gift with the greatest gratitude, and the Board will prepare the rules for the use of this gift, according to the wishes of the Dutch group.
    
7. The President informed that the Finnish Collegium group has prepared a banner to the Collegium. The motif of the standard was based on the coat-of-arms of the Collegium , seen also in the President´s medal. The Collegium thanked the hosts for their idea and of its results.
    
8. During next year the Board and the Credentials Committee will be the following:
   
   Board:
   R Grénman, President
   J Ylikoski, Vice-President
   P Karma, General Secretary
   R Dauman, Treasurer
   P Mangabeira Albernaz, President-elect
   R Bento, Vice-President-elect
   M Goycoolea, Councillor
   E Stennert, Councillor
   M Hirano, Councillor
   M Anniko, Editorial Secretary
   B Neel, Second Secretary
   
   Credentials Committee:
   A Ryan
   P Tran Ba Huy
   J Manni
    
9. The President informed that the Collegium has now been officially registered in Bordeaux, France, as decided last year in Noordwijk.
    
10. The next meeting will be held on 22-25 August 2004 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Pedro Luiz Mangabeira Albernaz as President and Ricardo Ferreira Bento as Vice-President. In 2005 the IFOS World Congress will be held in Rome, where we will have a Collegium Lunch Meeting and possibly a CORLAS Scientific Symposium on a topic to be decided. The venues of the later meetings were not yet decided, although Jerusalem was kept on top of the waiting list for the year 2006. Other future options are Stockholm (2007), Moscow and Turkey, among others.

The Collegium puts a great emphasis on the friendship between its members, the Amicitiae Sacrum spirit. Therefore we regard the social program of our gatherings as very important. In Helsinki it followed the traditions of our Society. On Sunday 24, the day before the meeting, the members and partners together made a Family Tour to Suomenlinna, one of the largest sea fortresses in the world, full of the history of Finland, and now also on the United Nation´s World Heritage List. On Monday we were invited by the City of Helsinki to the City Hall for a traditional reception in the same venue as 52 years earlier

On Tuesday, we had the Members´ Dinner in the Winter Garden of an old restaurant in historic settings. After the introduction of the new members by the General Secretary, our Honorary President Tauno Palva said some wise words to the new members, especially reminding them that the present as well as the future knowledge is based on the findings, innovations and experiences of the masters of the past. The typical Finnish menu toasted with eau-de-vie á la Mannerheim and the Scandinavian type drinking songs by our Swedish colleagues Lars Ödkvist, Claes Möller and Johan Wennerberg made this evening unforgettable in the very spirit of the Amicitiae Sacrum.

Simultaneously our partners gathered in the same building, but separately from the members, close to the Uspenski Cathedral, the biggest orthodox church in the western world. Our President´s wife, charming Seija, was the master of the evening, presenting our partners the characteristics of Finland and the Finnish ways of living. Also her idea, the Collegium Cookbook to collect and share the favourite recipes of our partners, and of ourselves, from different countries and cultures, was presented there as its pilot version. We wish this initiative good luck also in the future. Although I was not present, I have been told that the atmosphere was lively and very social, and the evening ended in the dance of Seija with a Finnish troubadour invited to entertain our beloved companions.

The 69^th meeting of the Society ended on Wednesday evening with a Gala Banquet at the classic restaurant Kalastajatorppa, the Fisherman´s Cottage in English, on the shore of a beautiful bay of the Baltic Sea. After a delicious dinner we once again commemorated our two longstanding General Secretaries, who passed away during the last year. Leonard Jongkees departed one week after the Noordwijk meeting, at the age of 90, having been a member of the Collegium for 52 years. He received the Shambaugh Prize in 1971 and served the Society as its third General Secretary from 1960 to 1976, for 16 years, and after that as the President of the Hague meeting in 1982. Leonard Jongkees was the Collegium personified and was indeed the link to the earlier days of the Collegium. Peter Pfaltz left us three weeks before the Helsinki meeting, at the age of 81. He was a member of the Society since 1965, and held the office of the General Secretary from 1977 to 1986, even after that presiding the Basle meeting in 1990. The Shambaugh Prize was awarded to him that same year. We learnt to know him also as a talented linguist, mastering five languages. Many of us remember his summaries of the papers in our two other official languages as well as his eloquent polyglot dinner speeches in the spirit of the Amicitiae Sacrum. I am convinced that these esteemed personalities will always live in our memories and stand high in the records of the Collegium.

The banquet ended in thanks: your General Secretary thanked, on behalf of us all, the retiring President Paul van den Broek and Vice-President Gerrit Jan Hordijk, not forgetting their charming wives Joyce and Gerda, for their great impact for the success of the Collegium. We also thanked Wolfgang Arnold for his 13 years´ service, most of that time as Chairman, in the Jury, by forwarding him the Collegium medal. We thanked our member and friend, Nasser Kotby, the President of the IFOS, for hosting us in Cairo during the World Congress. And last but not least, I had the privilege of thanking my compatriot organisers, and especially our President Reidar Grénman and his wife Seija, for all they had done, just in the Collegium way, for the success of this meeting. I am sure that our members coming from 33 different countries share these thanks to all the organisers for their excellent work. Although it may not be appropriate for me to praise my host country and host city, I hope that many members will come back to Finland to learn more of this beautiful country and its people.

After the meeting 62 members and partners joined an exciting three-day tour to St. Petersburg, celebrating its 300 years anniversary. The travel by the Finnish train “Sibelius”, panoramic sights of the city, numerous impressive palaces, the Hermitage Museum as well as the Giselle ballet were the highlights of the tour. Also a “Collegium-song contest” in Hotel Astoria, Minoru Hirano and George Gates as winners, as well as some problems with pickpockets and bureaucracy we may remember for years. In general, the tour was well organised and gave us a good impression of this magnificent metropol.

My dear colleagues, to better fulfil its scientific objectives and due to the pressure from many directions, the national quota of a maximum of 10 regular members per country was three years ago decided to increase to 13 per country, with the exception of the USA with 26 members. However, after Helsinki it seems that only the USA and Japan have reached the maximum. Of the others, only France has exceeded 10 regular members. And our international quota of a maximum of 25 members is not in use at all. So, it seems that the size of the national quota is not a real problem, at least not yet, when we try to increase and widen the scientific expertise within our Society. I am convinced that we have numerous highly competent member candidates throughout the countries. In your national groups, please, consider them, and make proposals. And while doing so, please remember also the balance between the different fields of otorhinolaryngology- head and neck surgery. And further on, when considering the candidates, please remember also the other two aspects of importance, the readiness to contribute to the Society by attending the meetings and the ability and the willingness to foster the Amicitiae Sacrum spirit.

Dear members, it is my duty to remind you to pay your annual subscription fee, € 50. You can use the enclosed payment form. And with the same form you can order the Collegium ties, again available. Also a practical information leaflet is enclosed, as well as the personal data sheet for your checking. Especially E-mail addresses should be checked/given, in order to facilitate the communication between the members and within the Society. And please remember to visit our website www.corlas.org on the Internet, to find essential and updated data on our activities.

And next year we will meet the first time in South America, in Salvador, the old capital of Brazil. I am convinced that Pedro Mangabeira Albernaz and our other South American members and friends will make it an unforgettable and exciting experience for us all.

So, while looking forward to seeing very many of you in Salvador, I and my wife Anni would like to wish you and all the friends of the Collegium health and happiness in the coming year.

Pekka Karma