Dear members and friends,

I am delighted to be writing the President's letter to the world-class scientists and clinicians who comprise the members of the Society of Craniofacial Genetics. In this brief letter I want to acknowledge the members of the Society for their scientific contributions, outline our goals for 2010 and provide a hint about the Society's next annual meeting.

The year 2010 begins the 33rd year of the Society of Craniofacial Genetics. In these 33 years exponential strides have been made in the integration of genetics and basic science into the clinical disciplines involving craniofacial disorders.  The members of the Society have played integral roles in these advancements of our discipline and the Society and I want to recognize your exceptional scientific and clinical contributions.  The Society and I also want to thank you for your continued membership, interactions and support of the Society, your Society.

I want to welcome Dr. Scott Lozanoff from the University of Hawaii, School of Medicine as the new Vice-President.  Dr. Lozanoff and my primary goals for 2010 are to obtain outside financial support and to organize an exceptional program for the next annual meeting.

As usual the next annual meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, in Washington, D.C.  Our meeting however, will be held in Bethesda Maryland on the campus of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), Tuesday, November 2, 2010.  In addition to an exceptional program of speakers, this meeting will provide for the enrichment of scientific exchange through interactions with NIDCR staff scientists.  I am pleased to announce that Dr. Kenneth M. Yamada, Chief of the Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology at NIDCR will be our featured speaker.  More details regarding the program are forthcoming.  Please note, the call for abstracts is now open and Dr. Lozanoff and I encourage your submissions. Please send your abstracts to me in PDF format as an attachment to: dcordero@partners.org

I welcome your ideas for the continuing maturation of the Society as well as suggestions for the meeting at NIDCR.  I personally look forward to seeing you at the NIDCR.

Best regards,

Dwight Cordero
Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA