Annual Report 2004

16 December 2004

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

The principal objective of the Collegium ORLAS is to create a forum for discussions of scientific problems related to the whole field of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery. This is mainly attained through annual meetings. This year the Collegium followed that demand by holding its meeting in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on 22-25 August, Professor Pedro Mangabeira Albernaz as President and Professor Ricardo Bento as Vice-President. This was the first time we had our scientific meeting  in South America. It was also special in the respect that, in addition to our Brazilian colleagues, members from other South American countries, such as Edgar Chiossone Lares from Venezuela, Marcos Goycoolea from Chile, Hector Cardoso Rondon from Peru and Hamlet Suarez from Uruguai participated in the arrangements, making the meeting not only Brazilian but also South American. Altogether about 140 attendants, accompanying persons included, participated in the meeting, all staying at the Sofitel Convention Center in Costa do Sauipe, the venue of the meeting, located at a beautiful seafront area 43 miles north of Salvador.

During the Opening Ceremony, after the Welcome Address by the President of the Collegium, the Opening Lecture was given by Francisco Senna, Professor of History of Architecture at the University of Salvador and President of the Gregorio de Mattos Foundation. He told us about the history of the city of Salvador, the former capital of Brazil for more than 200 years, a city with an African soul. He also told us about the area of Bahia, characteristic of the Nordestinos still upholding old traditions typical of this part of Brazil. After a traditional performance by  capoeira players, your General Secretary ended the occasion by forwarding the 29th Shambaugh Prize to Professor Vicente Honrubia from Los Angeles for his outstanding scientific contributions to the understanding of the auditory and vestibular systems and his leadership in vestibular research. We all felt that he more than deserved this distinguished prize.

Pedro Mangabeira Albernaz after receiving the President’s Medal from Reidar Grenman.

The three-day scientific program followed the lines of previous meetings. On Monday we started with a symposium on the Physiology of the Cochlea. This symposium, chaired by  Professor Artur Meninho Castilho from Sao Paulo, and Professors Bechara Kachar, a Brazilian now working in the NIH, Bethesda, Fred Linthicum from  Los Angeles, Monica Amatuzzi from Sao Paulo and Mauricio Kurc also from Sao Paulo updated us with the newest knowledge of the pathophysiology of  hair cell damage, of the renewal of auditory hair bundles as well of possibilities to protect hair cells from damage. This symposium certainly took us to the forefront of current knowledge of the topic as well as proved us the high scientific competence of the Brazilian inner ear research.  The second minisymposium on Wednesday, conducted by our local host Professor Marcus Lessa from Salvador, and Professors Hamlet Suarez from Montevideo, our President Pedro Mangabeira Albernaz from Sao Paulo, Lars Ödqvist from Linköping and  Mauricio Gananca from Sao Paulo, familiarized us with some advancements in the knowledge of vertigo, both in adults and in children. The program also included seven free paper sessions and a guided poster session. Although there were some inevitable cancellations and changes in the program, we had almost 50 presentations to an audience of about 100 members and guests from 25 countries. Although these were not record numbers, considering that Costa do Sauipe may not be among the easiest places to reach, I think they were acceptable. The papers covered many of the major fields of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery, but especially those on inner ear problems were again well represented. The quality of the papers can be regarded, with some exceptions, as high or excellent. The members  especially appreciated the high quality of the posters. The presentations held during the meeting, and accepted by regular peer-review, will be published in the CORLAS issue of Acta Oto-Laryngologica.

The Business meeting followed the scientific program on Monday afternoon, 23 August:

1. President Pedro Mangabeira Albernaz welcomed the members.
    

2. President commemorated the members who had passed away since the last meeting in Helsinki: Ettore Bocca (Italy), Yves Guerrier (France), Oskar Kleinsasser (Germany), Ralph Naunton (USA), and Juan M Tato (Argentina, at the age of 101 years). We honoured the deceased, all honorary members of the Society, by standing and with a moment of silence.
    

3. The Annual Report 2003 was approved without any alterations or comments.
    

4. The Financial report for the year 2003/2004 was presented by our Treasurer René Dauman. It showed a positive balance of € 88,217. The annual subscription fee was decided to be unchanged, € 50.
    

5. After proposals by the national groups, reviews and recommendations by the Credentials Committee, and suggestions by the Board, the following candidates were unanimously accepted as new members: Martin Birchall (UK), Barbara Canlon (Sweden), Paul Carding (UK), Ana Belén Elgoyhen (Argentina), Jussi Jero (Finland), Nick Jones (UK), Sang Yoon Kim (Korea), Saumil Merchant (USA), Lloyd Minor (USA), Christopher Post (USA), Yehoash Raphael (USA), Mats Ulfendahl (Sweden), Guus van Dongen (The Netherlands) and Yi-Ho Young (Taiwan). It may be worth noting that almost half of the members proposed by the national groups did not receive approval. The total number of the members is now 473, from 50 countries.
    

6. For the next two years the Board and the Credentials Committee will be the following:
   
   Board
   
   P Mangabeira Albernaz, President
   R Bento, Vice-President
   Karma, General Secretary
   R Dauman, Treasurer
   G Tavartkiladze, President-elect
   T Gvelesiani, Vice-President-elect
   M Goycoolea, Councillor
   E Stennert, Councillor
   CS Kim, Councillor
   M Anniko, Editorial Secretary
   B Neel, Second Secretary
   
   Credentials Committee
   
   A Ryan
   P Tran Ba Huy
   JJ Manni
    

7. Last year the Collegium received the donation of USD 20,000 from the Dutch Collegium group with the greatest gratitude. The rules for this donation, which will be used to fund a prize for young members or guest presenting high-quality papers in the Collegium meetings, were prepared following the wishes of the Dutch group, and were approved. So, the Benjamins Prize:
   
   - will be awarded annually (not in the year of the IFOS World Congress)
   - to a young scientist, member or guest, preferably younger than 40 but not older than 45 years
   - of a fixed sum of € 1,000
   - declared in the first announcement of the next meeting (January-February)
   - asking the members to send in an abstract from a younger colleague, collaborator or from themselves to be evaluated
   - selected by the Scientific Advisory Board (President-elect, Vice-President-elect and General Secretary)
   - the winner is declared and the prize given during the meeting, where
   - the winner must give his or her paper as an oral presentation, fitted in the program
    
8. Next year, because of the IFOS World Congress in Rome on 25-30 June, there will be no ordinary scientific Collegium meeting. However, we will have a special CORLAS symposium during the World Congress, on New Diagnostic Methods in Head and Neck Cancer, moderated by Reidar Grénman, and with Hiltrud Glanz, and Gordon Snow, Stephan Schmid and Jochen Werner, all members of the Collegium, as speakers. We will also have a Collegium Lunch Meeting, our Italian group and Professor Desiderio Passali, the President of the World Congress, as our hosts. The exact dates of these events will be provided later on our (see also our homepage www.corlas.org) as soon as they are fixed. Hopefully a great number of members will attend these functions.
    

9. This time we also had to decide the venues of the next two annual scientific meetings. There were some standing  invitations and, we must admit, different opinions on where we should or could go. So, the Board decided not to force any decisions but to let the members in the Business Meeting decide. After a closed (ballot) voting, the venue of the 2006 meeting was decided to be Moscow, on 27-30 August, George Tavartkiladze as President. And in the same way we decided to go to Seoul in 2007 (26-29 August), where Chong Sun Kim will be President.
   
   There are also options, invitations and suggestions (not yet decided) for  future meetings, such as Israel (Jerusalem), Belgium (Bruges), Germany (Berlin), Italy (Rome) and Turkey, among others.

The social program gave us an opportunity to get a closer view of the most historic, cultural and exciting areas of this great country, the state of Bahia, the city of Salvador and especially its surroundings. On Sunday we had a Family Tour to see the historic Praia do Forte, one of the oldest Portuguese castle ruins in Brazil. After tasty comida baiana we visited the Tamar Project area, seeing a fantastic collection of different species of Tartaruga Marinhas, marine turtles, something you hardly can find anywhere else in the world. And in the evening we were back in Costa do Sauipe where the President’s Reception in the garden area of Hotel Sofitel made it possible for us to meet our colleagues and friends in the spirit of Amicitiae Sacrum.

On Monday our accompanying persons had a tour to the historical areas of Salvador, especially the colonial complex of Pelourinho, famous of its old architecture and “Barroco” churches and  now also on the United Nation’s World Heritage List. And on Tuesday the group went on a schooner cruise on the Bahia de Todos os Santos (All Saints’ Bay), an area where the Italian navigator Americo Vespucci was the first European visitor for more than 500 years ago, and they also visited the Itaparica Island, beaching and swimming there in the relaxing Brazilian atmosphere.

On Tuesday, we had a Members’ Dinner at the pool-side restaurant of our hotel. After the introduction of the members attending the meeting for the first time, the General Secretary forwarded them our history books and reminded them of the duties they have as members of this distinguished Society, especially about attending the meetings. Later our Shambaugh Prize winner and Honorary Member Vicente Honrubia continued with his sage opinions on the Collegium and on research in general. The evening ended with table discussions, including considerations on how to further the functions of the Society and the members’ commitment to contribute to the Society. At the same time our partners gathered at the restaurant ”Le France” at our hotel, hosted by Marlene Mangabeira, our President’s wife. The new and also old attendants of this dinner said a few words about themselves, their families and living environments. I have been told that the atmosphere was very lively and friendly, just the way it can be in the group of old and new friends. In fact, our partners ended their evening much later than we did, and in a very good humour.

The Gala Dinner on Wednesday evening took place at the Museu de Arte Sacra da Universidade Federal da Bahia. Although it took some time to get there, the beautifully restored 17^th century convent, full of sacred arts, near the centre of old Salvador, it certainly was worthwhile. On its terrace with a breathtaking view over Baia de Todos os Santos, after a superb dinner including regional specialities, your General Secretary thanked, on behalf of the Society, the retiring President Reidar Grénman and his charming wife Seija for their successful exertions for the best of the Society. And as a token of gratitude for his work the Society forwarded Reidar the Collegium banner. Retiring Vice-President Jukka Ylikoski and long-standing Board Member Minoru Hirano, who could not be present in Salvador, were also remembered with gratitude. And last but not least, we all especially thanked our Brazilian hosts for the wonderful days in Bahia. Pedro Mangabeira Albernaz  and his wife Marlene, Ricardo Bento and all their co-workers had prepared us really unforgettable days in these very special and exciting surroundings. Their motto “may the days you spend here with us be filled with happy memories” had really come true.

After the meeting, about 45 of us continued the South American visit with a three-day adventure to the backwoods of Brazil, to Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul, the world’s largest wetland and one of the greatest concentrations of fauna. Hundreds of species of birds, very large numbers of caimans, horseback riding on the savanna, canoeing at the sunset and spotlighting around the Caiman Ecological Resort, were experiences that you can’t get anywhere else in the world. Those who decided to go, certainly did not regret their decision.

But, Dear Colleagues, we must remember the basic objectives of our Society: to be a forum for scientific discussions. The attainment of  these objectives lies in the responsibility of our members. This is evidenced even in our rules, which set the members a demand to contribute to the Society, especially by participating in the meetings: if a member does not attend four consecutive meetings (except in the year of the World Congress), without notifying the General Secretary of his desire to remain a member, his of her membership will be terminated. Although we have not followed that rule, the Board asked me to remind you about this demand. The power and competence of the Collegium comes from your contributions to this Society. So, please contribute by attending the meetings. Bring with you your scientific competence. Come and share your knowledge with other members.

Another issue which was discussed during the Board and the Business Meeting, and which needs attention, is your duty to pay the annual subscription fee, € 50. Our Treasurer has found that many of the members have not paid their fees, not even for many years. Our rules say that membership may be terminated when a member (excepting honorary members)  has not paid the annual dues for four consecutive years. The Board and the Treasurer will systematically check the situation and  will remind those who have not paid. So, please take care of your dues using the enclosed payment form, which can also be used to order the Collegium items.

I also enclose a practical information leaflet, and personal data sheet for you to check. Especially check/give your E-mail address. And for more CORLAS information, please visit our website www.corlas.org  on the Internet. I try to keep it updated with the latest CORLAS news.

The 78^th Collegium year is now coming to an end. Next year we will meet in Rome and in 2006 in Moscow - in the spirit of the Amicitiae Sacrum. While looking forward to seeing you there, I and my wife Anni wish you and your families a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Pekka Karma