President's Message: Insights and Connections at the Tandem Meetings
During this reflective time of year, Dr. David Porter shares his memories of the Tandem Meetings | Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT® and CIBMTR® and why the 2026 event, happening in February, will be a can't-miss experience.
Transcript
Colleagues and friends, we’re quickly coming to the end of 2025, and mostly, I just want to say “thank you.”
Thank you to ASTCT for another absolutely wonderful and productive year. Thank you to all of you for what you do for our field, our society, and for our patients. And thank you to the wonderful ASTCT staff who support us and don’t just make our society function, but help us to thrive. When others are slowing down at the end of the year, we’re actually just gearing up, and we’re getting ready for the Tandem ASTCT CIBMTR Meetings.
Tandem really is the premier event of the year for our society for many different reasons. For me, honestly, it’s a way to keep up on all that’s happening in our field. But more and more, it’s a time to reconnect with old colleagues and friends—to re-establish some of those relationships and meet new people. There have been people I’ve come to know over the years, and indeed, every year I still meet new colleagues and make new connections in all kinds of forums at the meeting. My first Tandem Meeting, I remember, was a ski meeting in Keystone, Colorado. You actually had to apply and be accepted to attend. The meeting started at 7 a.m., broke in the afternoon for skiing, and came back together late in the afternoon and went till 10 o’clock at night. I remember being exhausted, but I have really fond and warm memories of that.
So I thought what we’d do today—we were going to do a top 10 list of all the reasons to go to Tandem this year, but for the sake of time, I’m only going to do a top six list. So here goes:
One, the presidential plenary session. It’s going to be fascinating. It’s likely going to be titled something like, "AI Is Coming to You or for You." And we’ll explore the incredible ways AI is being applied to transplantation and cell therapy, which I think is gonna be one of the most exciting developments in our field right now.
Number 2, the science. We’ve already seen that there will be state-of-the-art reviews and exciting new data. You just can’t miss it. You need to stay on top of all that’s happening and changing in our field.
3, Salt Lake City—skiing in Park City, spectacular mountain views, local breweries, cultural landmarks. It’s OK to actually take some time off from the meeting, explore the city, do something fun, and enjoy yourself.
Number 4, it is fun. There are special receptions. There are sessions, including an orientation for fellows, a poster reception, a dozen “Meet the Professor” sessions on topics ranging from immunotherapy and myeloma to fitness for transplant. There’s so much to do, and you really can have fun doing it.
Number 5, as always, the Saturday night celebration. It does mark the end of the meeting. Last year’s luau, if you were there, set a really high bar that will be hard to top. But this year’s evening is really being planned as another really special time in celebration—for connection and for fun—and to just celebrate a wonderful ending of our year and the beginning of a new one.
And number 6, finally, the people. Old friends—and of course some are older than others—but former fellows, mentors, colleagues: have lunch, dinner, a drink, reminisce, make new memories. There’s no way to come to these meetings without making new connections, often with people who will become new friends and then old friends. At its core, this event is about our community. It makes us a better society. It drives progress in transplant and cell therapy, and it leads to better patient outcomes, which is really why we all do what we do.
So this is my end-of-the-year reminder: register for Tandem. This is our meeting. I certainly will look forward to seeing everyone there.
Wishing you all a very warm and peaceful holiday season. However you celebrate, I’m wishing you only a happy and healthy New Year. I will see you all in Salt Lake City, February 4th to the 7th.
Happy holidays and Happy New Year.