Welcome back from SLEEP 2018. I hope everyone who attended enjoyed the excellent science and caught up with friends old and new. I know I did. Who can forget Bob’s outfit at Club Hypnos? I know I cannot. Several times during the meeting, people asked if I was glad I served as President. I most decidedly am. They also asked if I was happy with what I accomplished. After much reflection, I most decidedly am.
I am proud we made solid progress on our Strategic Plan over the last two years. Some of the biggest new initiatives include: a) the Funding our Future Scientists campaign, with which we have had great success thus far; b) the SRS Advances In Sleep and Circadian Science meeting of cutting edge science scheduled for Feb 2019; and c) concerted efforts to increase the participation of our international members in decision making and other aspects of the SRS.
Additionally, we strengthened our journal, SLEEP; we tirelessly advocated to keep sleep and circadian science on the federal government’s radar and we had demonstrable successes, we brought ourselves into the 21st Century (dragging some of us kicking and screaming) with a social media presence; and we improved and significantly increased our career development and mentoring programs.
In the end, though, these successes and the pride I feel in them is not about me. I was just the steady hand on the rudder. We have been sailing along the currents created by my predecessors. It is the Board and our Committees and Task Forces that were the sails moving us forward, and it was our members who were the hull, with its sturdy and reliable planks, that served as the very basis upon which it was all built.
So, to continue with my nautical theme, I will sign off my last email update with gratitude to all those who contributed to the gains made by the SRS over the last two years.
So long and thanks for all the fish (bonus points for anyone who gets that reference).
Sean P.A. Drummond, PhD
Immediate Past President, Sleep Research Society