• Home
• History
• Officers
• Committees
• President’s Message
• Annual Reports
• Events
• Awards
• Bylaws
• Photo Gallery
• Newsletters
• Links
• Membership
• Volunteer
• Session Proposals and Review
• Sponsorship

 

 

Message from the President—July 2025

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer season! I don’t know where the year went but we are now in July.

We had a fantastic reception at the Annual Meeting in March, and I am honored to serve as your President for the 2025–2026 year! I served as the RASS postdoc rep and I recall talking with my fellow postdocs and grad students that I would love to serve as the RASS president someday (I have some amazing predecessors that I admire very much and that I served on the EC with!), and here I am—it’s a dream come true! RASS continues to be more relevant and a beacon of excellence and collaboration, and I am fully committed to upholding these values as we navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead. I am grateful for your unwavering support, active participation, and steadfast commitment to RASS. Your invaluable contributions are the driving force behind the RASS Executive Committee (EC). The EC members, including Bernard Gadagbui (Past President), Kan Shao (Vice President), Kathryn Page (Vice President-Elect), Nikolaos Georgiadis (Secretary/Treasurer), Melissa Heintz (Senior Councilor), Alexandra Cordova (Junior Councilor), Chi-Yun Chen (Postdoctoral Representative), Disha Gupta (Student Representative), and I have already completed our first tasks, which were pre-proposal review, and review and endorsement of the several high-profile proposals for the 2026 Scientific Sessions, as well as our 2024–2025 Annual Report.

As a continuation of the past activities, we have an exciting lineup of events planned for the coming year. Our monthly informative and accessible flagship RASS Webinar Series continues to cover a range of subjects, from technical skills, emerging technologies, etc., to industry best practices. These webinars are generally from Fall to Spring on the second Wednesday of each month. I want to give a special shout-out to our RASS Webinar Series Coordinator, Annie Jarabek, for serving in this role and for her dedication for almost two decades. If you have any suggestions for topics or speakers, feedback, etc., please get in touch with any of the EC members or Annie Jarabek. We also welcome proposals for joint webinars from other Specialty Sections. George Woodall and his colleagues also deserve a special mention for coordinating the Risk Assessment Syllabus that complements the RASS Webinar Series and other RASS-related mentoring activities. We thank the Syllabus Committee for making this training event possible. So many of our members have excelled in promoting the activities of RASS.

Unfortunately, space will not allow me to mention everyone, but I commend everyone for your continued support and participation. Your continued support, participation, and volunteering are crucial to our collective success and to make RASS as impactful as possible. As such, please consider ways to become more involved with RASS activities, such as contributing to the Endowment Fund, serving on the Endowment Fund Committee or the Risk Assessment Syllabus Committee, running for an EC Officer position, being a speaker, or volunteering to assist in the award selection process or at the Annual Meeting. If you are interested in volunteering, please send your contact information to our volunteer coordinator, Alea Goodmanson, who has been a valuable volunteer for many years. Please get in touch with any of the EC members with any suggestions or questions. You can also follow RASS on LinkedIn as an additional means of communication and involvement.

I have to put in a special shout-out to any of our members who were accepted as Fellow ATS this year! Kan Shao and I were both accepted, and we want to hear from others who were accepted. A big congratulations to all of us!

We aim to serve you and provide the resources, support, and networking opportunities needed to make RASS the best community it can be and for all of us to excel in our respective fields. Congratulations to all RASS members serving on the SOT Council and other committees. We are proud of all of you. Finally, let’s remember those who are no longer with us. We shall forever be indebted to them for the time they spent with us and for promoting RASS activities. Together, I am confident we will achieve great things and make a lasting impact on RASS. I look forward to working with you all in the coming year.

Cheers and warm regards,

Anne E. Loccisano, PhD, DABT, Fellow ATS
RASS President 2025–2026