Published on January 20, 2026
President's Message: Leaving Our Society Stronger & Better
by David Porter
In his last message as ASTCT President, David Porter, MD, highlights how his successes in 2025 were a group effort, made possible by the ASTCT Board, staff, and members. He reflects on key achievements and where ASTCT is headed next.
Transcript
Happy New Year, ASTCT.
This is going to be my last message as president of our society. When I first started this term, my two colleagues and our two immediate past presidents—and my friends—Corey Cutler and Miguel Perales both told me that perhaps a measure of success in this role would be leaving our society a little bit better and maybe a little bit stronger than when we started. I do hope that I have done some of that.
I think this year has been full with meaningful progress and shared accomplishments. And I do mean shared: shared among our Executive Committee, the ASTCT staff, the Board of Directors, and really all of our members. I think most important is that we've developed and signed off on our new strategic plan that's going to take us through 2028. You'll hear a lot more about this in the coming months and at the Tandem Meetings, but I think the plan is practical. I think it's bold, and really, I think it's quite achievable if we all work together.
This past year, I think we were successful in advocating on Capitol Hill for patient access and for research funding, though some of that remains to be determined. Our education and science courses thrived. We launched a refreshed user experience on the practice guidelines app. We've had many other successes. And I think financially we're in a really good place. We have funds that are going to sustain us over the next several years, and I think funds to invest in our future and in our members and membership. We're going to have an opportunity to reflect on all of these milestones more fully in our upcoming annual report, and you'll hear more about this at the Tandem Meetings. Hopefully, you'll be attending.
Although my term as president is going to end at the end of the Tandem Meetings. I'm going to continue to serve on the Board as the immediate past president. And I'm confident and I'm excited that our incoming president, Dr. Margy MacMillan, is going to lead our society into 2026.
Margy's going to bring new energy and new vision. She's got bold ideas and is already fully engaged, and I know this society is going to be in the best of hands. I wish her luck and I hope you all join her in helping to make our society better and stronger. Joining Margy and ASTCT's leadership are Richard Maziarz as president-elect. Eneida Nemecek will remain as our treasurer Marcelo Pasquini will become our new incoming secretary. And I'm excited to remind everybody that Leslie Kean has been elected our new vice president to ultimately become the society's president in 2028. Please also welcome our new board members, Saar Gill, Jennifer Holter, and Rebecca Gardner. Our new ex-officio Directors are Terri Lynn Shigle, director of pharmacists, and Misty Evans, director of advanced practice providers.
Please join me in welcoming all of these people, congratulating them and others stepping into our new leadership roles for the society. Finally, in closing, I just do want to say that being our society's president has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I'm grateful for all of your trust, for your engagement, for all of the help everybody has given me this past year. I look forward to staying connected, to remaining involved, and I'm so excited to see where our society is going and all that we can achieve when we work together.
I wish our incoming leadership the best of luck. I thank you for your trust that you put in me this past year. Wishing you all a very, very happy New Year, and I hope to see everybody in Salt Lake City at the Tandem Meetings. Thank you.
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