Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome to the new edition of the IMS Post!
2022 has been an incredible year for the Society, and it is appropriate that this issue serves as a retrospective of the year.
Once again, thanks to the generosity and support of the Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation, IMS led the way in funding opportunities in multiple myeloma, giving out $3.2 million in grants. We funded 12 Translational Research Awards, and 7 Career Development Awards. This represents developing relationships with 22 institutions in 13 countries. In May, IMS hosted the 3rd Immune Effector Cell Therapies Workshop in Boston. We also piloted the Practical Insights in Novel Immune Therapies in Multiple Myeloma workshop series, with four 3-hour in person meetings and two 90-minute webinars.
In August, we hosted our 19th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. We unveiled our new thematic format. The meeting itself was a great success. We were proud to welcome members and colleagues – both in person and virtually – from 58 countries. If you have not already seen the meeting, content is still available until January 13.
In November, we hosted a joint workshop with the FDA on the Future of Drug Development. It was incredible to watch colleagues from academia, industry and the FDA come together and have a long overdue discussion about drug approvals. The outcomes of this meeting will have lasting impact on how we treat patients with myeloma, and we look forward to developing next steps. If you missed this meeting, you can still access the content by following this link.
IMS has also announced applications for the third annual Career Development Award and the IMS and Paula and Rodger Riney Translational Research Award. The deadline is December 31, so there is still time to apply.
With 2022 almost behind us, we are making plans for 2023. We are already busy preparing for our fourth Immune Effector Cell Therapies in Multiple Myeloma Workshop, which will take place in Boston, MA on March 24-25, 2023. You can learn more and register on our website.
The 20th Annual IMS Meeting will take place in Athens, Greece, on September 27-30, 2023. Please keep an eye out for emails related to registration, abstract submission and more. This year promises to be the biggest IMS Annual Meeting yet!
There is more in store for IMS, so please continue to check our website for more updates. If you have any questions about our activities, membership, or any ideas for future issues, please reach out to Moira Hancock.
Happy holidays from all of us at the IMS. We look forward to welcoming you to one of our events in the new year.
Nikhil Munshi, MD
President