Greetings from the Coller Society as we enter the spring season. It seems only a short while ago that we were enjoying the delightful clinical meeting in Napa hosted by the Dantos and the Thorpes. The spring Council meeting was held by teleconference 3 April, and several highlights were pertinent enough to pass along at this time.

Most importantly, plans to establish a foundation for the Coller Society, as unanimously approved by the members at the fall business meeting, have proceeded nicely, thanks to the dogged efforts of John Kirkland. All of the necessary paperwork has been filed, and the foundation, which promises to provide financial stability for the Coller Society in the future, should be in place by the fall meeting.

Speaking of which, John and Deedee Mahaffay have arranged a spectacular meeting for this September in Annapolis. As they emphasized last fall and in their letter, that is a very busy weekend with a Navy football game and other activities. We have filled our initial room allotment and spilled into a nearby hotel. Reservations at the O'Callaghan Hotel: Contact the reservations department on 1-866-782-9624 Mon-Fri 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and reference the Coller Surgeons Block.ONLINE --www.ocallaghanhotels-us.com - on the booking page under Special Rates - select: Group Block Rate - and type in COLLER2012. As these rooms fill, other options may be obtained by checking these websites: www.hotels.com and www.travelocity.com.

Gordie Kauffman chairs the program committee, and members and residents are encouraged to submit abstracts using the on-line forms. The very popular snapshot presentations instituted last year will be continued. An innovation this year will be a difficult case session to be held Thursday afternoon prior to the evening reception. Response to this will dictate future similar sessions.

A discussion was held regarding the ever-expanding number of members with long-delinquent dues and individuals who have never attended a meeting to receive their certificates after election to membership. Letters will be sent to these members asking them to confirm their interest in the Coller Society by appropriate action. Along these lines, members who are considering sponsoring candidates for membership might have them attend a meeting as guests in order to assess their true interest in the Society.

Revisions and corrections of the by-laws and constitution approved by the Council and the general membership last fall were reviewed. These will be presented for final confirmation by the membership this fall.

My sincere thanks go out to all of the members of the Council and committees, and to Vicki and Corey, for the hard work that goes on behind the scene. I encourage you to contact any of us with suggestions, criticisms, or ideas for the betterment of the organization. I look forward to seeing you in Annapolis.

Mike Daugherty

Dear Fellow Members of the Fredrick A. Coller Society:

As the Chair of the Program Committee for the 58^th Clinical Meeting of the Frederick A. Coller Society to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, September 20-23,2012, I would like to issue this call for abstracts. I was impressed with the quality of the scientific presentations at the Napa, Califomia Meeting last year, as I am sure those of you who attended were, too. This year the Program Committee plans to develop a program consisting of 18-20 podium presentations, each of which should be ten minutes allowing five minutes for a discussion of the presentations. The Committee will attempt to strike an appropriate balance between clinical and basic science research. It will be from this group of presentations that the Resident Research Award and the Jobst Award will be chosen. The Program will again include several 3 minute "Snap Shot" presentations, as they were so well received last year. The abstract form with instructions can be found on the Society's website. The deadline for receipt of abstracts will be 5:00PM on Monday, May 14, 2012. Authors of submitted abstracts will be notified of the Committee's decision before July 1, 2012. We encourage each member of the Society and residents working with a member to submit quality abstracts over a wide range of clinical and basic science projects. The Committee requests that no more than two abstracts be submitted from anyone member (laboratory) and/or resident unless a member is working with more than one resident.

This year we will offer a new session to be held from 4:00-5:30PM on Thursday afternoon for the presentations of several "Difficult Cases". The Council Meeting should be finished by 4:00PM and the evening welcoming Reception begins at 6:00PM. We should be able to discuss 4-5 cases in that time frame. These should be cases that present either a diagnostic or therapeutic challenge. The Program Committee will decide on the "Difficult Cases" to be presented. The form for the submission of these cases, which must be limited to 200 words, is also found on the Society website. The deadline for these submissions, too, is 5:00PM on Monday, May 14, 2012. This will be a trial session this year. The more interesting the cases presented that will edify the audience, the more likely that this session will be held in perpetuity.

Please do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail (gkauffman@hmc.psu.edu) or by phone (717) 531-8815 if you have questions. The Program Committee consisting of Bryan Cotton, Jim Geiger, Tim Kresowik and Rick Pomerantz join me in this request for abstracts and "Difficult Cases" of outstanding quality.

Sincerely yours,
Gordon L. Kauffman, Jr., M.D.

About the Coller Surgical Society

The Frederick A. Coller Surgical Society was founded in 1947 by his former University of Michigan residents as an expression of the esteem, respect, and affection for Dr. Coller. The Society currently has approximately 400 members representing many geographic areas of the United States and several foreign countries.