President’s Message: Strategic Planning for What’s Next

In this message, ASTCT President Dr. David Porter provides an update on the society’s upcoming strategic plan, which will guide ASTCT from 2026 through 2028. He explains the three pillars — Influence, Innovation and Growth — that will shape priorities for advocacy, education and membership. Dr. Porter also shares details on refreshing ASTCT’s mission and vision, upcoming events, and how members can help strengthen the organization. 

Transcript

Hello, ASTCT.

I wanted to talk today about strategy.

I can't believe it's already mid-November and almost 2026. And for full disclosure, this is actually the secondtime I'm recording this message. I recorded it earlier, and the ASTCT staff listened to it before releasing it and told me I said, "I can't believe it's already mid-January." In my brain, we're already moving rapidly toward 2026. Things are moving so quickly this time of year.

At the start of 2025, the ASTCT Board began work on our society's next strategic plan. This is something we do every few years to make sure that our society is aligned with where the field is headed and where our members need us most. Our current plan wraps up at the end of this year, so it was time to look ahead, and this will take us now through 2026, all the way into 2028.

Strategic planning gives us a chance to take stock of what's working, what's changed and what we want to build toward. So to do this, we brought together our Board of Directors, our staff and our committee leadership, all to set priorities that will strengthen ASTCT financially, but really to expand our impact and support our members in the most meaningful ways.

We've organized the plan around three pillars that will guide our work.

The first pillar is influence. What this means is that we will identify and define key audiences in transplant and related cell therapies, communicate ASTCT's values and advocate on its behalf to those audiences, and engage target audiences to join, partner, and remain active in ASTCT. The healthier we are and the more voices we have, the louder and stronger our advocacy will be.

The next pillar is innovation. This will include expanding and enhancing ASTCT's educational offerings in transplant and related cell therapies and aligning partnerships with professional societies to advocate ASTCT's mission and strategic priorities. Again, the more partnerships we develop, the stronger our advocacy, the louder our voice.

The third pillar is growth, which will entail growing membership through data-driven recruitment and retention strategies, evaluating and optimizing the Tandem Meetings' success and impact, and diversifying our revenue and funding streams to ensure our ongoing health.

We're also refreshing ASTCT's mission and vision to align with these goals. Stay tuned. We hope to roll that out in the next few months to better address what we truly stand for.

We'll be sharing more information about the plan and our 2026 goals at our Annual Business Meeting, which will take place at the 2026 Tandem Meetings. Speaking of course of the Tandem Meetings, I hope you've all registered, and you'll join us in Salt Lake City.

In addition, I hope you've all renewed your membership for the coming year. And not only that, let your colleagues know how important this is. Walk down the hall, knock on somebody's door, and ask them if they are members or if they renewed their memberships.

We really provide a lot to this community, and again, the stronger we are, the more members we have, the stronger our voice will be.

ASTCT, of course, will be at ASH this December in just a few weeks. I encourage you to stop by and say hello to the ASTCT team at our booth. I hope I see you there as well.

As always, thank you for being part of our society. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together during this next phase and with our new strategic plan in the years to come.

Thank you again, and hope to see you soon.