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It is an honor and a privilege to commence my term of office as President of the IMS. On behalf of the Society, I wish to thank the immediate Past President, Mary Ann Lumsden, and the outgoing Board for their hard work and contributions to the IMS over the past Board term. Many of you will be among the attendees of the World Congress in Vancouver, which involved delegates from 65 countries. This is a testimony to the global reach of the Society and the breadth of the Scientific Program under the guidance of the Program Chair, Nick Panay.

I wish to congratulate again our Scientific Award recipients, Professor Irene Lambrinoudaki, who received the Henry Burger Award, and the Robert Greenblatt Awardees, Drs Jenifer Sassarini and Sandra Bonilla.

Dr Sassarini’s work pertained to the recently elucidated kisspeptin/neurokinin B (NKB) dynorphin signalling pathway in the brain and the etiology of vasomotor symptoms (VMS). In her study, five postmenopausal women experiencing VMS underwent functional MRI studies before and after treatment with a NK3 receptor antagonist. Her study showed that the NK3R antagonist reduced hot flush frequency and increased the connectivity between various brain regions, thus identifying brain regions that might be important in the generation of VMS.

Dr Bonilla presented her novel findings pertaining to the role of testosterone in the lower urinary tract. In a rodent model of menopause, she demonstrated protective effects of testosterone in preventing bladder and smooth muscle contractions that do not involve activation of the classical genomic pathway through androgen receptors. This adds further to the evidence that testosterone may protect against stress urinary incontinence. A publication from the NHANES database, indicating an association between low testosterone levels and stress urinary incontinence in women was most timely with respect to this presentation [1].

I congratulate both our young Greenblatt Awardees on their novel and exciting research.

The IMS recognizes the significant contribution of members to the Society through awards. Three new awards were introduced this year. These were the Life Time Achievement Award, the President’s Award and the Wulf Utian IMS/CAMS Award for Achievement in Furthering Women’s Health. These were awarded to Dr David Archer, Dr Duru Shah and Dr Sunila Khandelwal, respectively. The Honorary Lifetime Membership Award was renamed the Distinguished Service Award, with this year’s recipients being Professor Mary Ann Lumsden and Dr Nestor Siseles. Congratulations to all.

The newly elected Board met for the first time on June 9th at the end of the World Congress. This brief introductory meeting enabled us to formulate subcommittees to ensure the effective working of the Board over the next 2 years. A full-day Board meeting will be held in December 2018 in Dubai, in conjunction with a meeting hosted by the British Menopause Society and the RCOG (UK). I will report back to the membership following that meeting.

Author(s)

  • Susan Davis
    IMS President

Citations

  1. Kim MM, Kreydin EI. The association of serum testosterone levels and urinary incontinence in women. J Urol 2018;199:522-7
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