SSAT Fall 2008 Update
The Fall 2008 Update is now available online. This mini-newsletter will accompany the mailing of the 2008 Membership Directory; members who did not attend the 2008 Annual Meeting will also receive a copy of the 2008 Program Book. The Fall 2008 Update outlines many of the following, important dates:
| December 1, 2008: | Deadline for submitting abstracts and videos for presentation consideration at the 2009 Annual Meeting, via the DDW 2009 abstract submission site. |
| December 15, 2008: | Deadline for all authors on an abstract or video’s author string completing their own financial disclosure statement. All authors must complete the disclosure form either disclosing all financial relationships with commercial interests or indicating that none exist. Submitting authors will NOT be allowed to submit disclosures on a co-author's behalf. It is the responsibility of the submitting author to ensure that all co-authors submit their financial disclosure for DDW 2009. Abstracts missing co-author financial disclosures may be in jeopardy of not being reviewed and involuntarily withdrawn from DDW 2009. |
| January 7, 2009: | SSAT member registration and housing for the 2009 Annual Meeting opens at www.ddw.org. Register before the Early Bird deadline of April 24, 2009, and registration is only $75 (and complimentary for Candidate and Resident SSAT members). |
| January 8, 2009: | Deadline for submitting applications for the 2009 Career Development Award. The Career Development Award for young faculty members ($50,000 per year for two years) assists in the establishment of investigators, basic or clinical, in digestive diseases. |
| February 1, 2009: | Deadline for submitting applications for the Karen and Josef E. Fischer International Traveling Fellowship for Surgeons in Academic Practice, which promotes interaction and learning among junior academic surgeons in the SSAT with surgical units overseas. One awardee each year will be funded to visit International GI Surgery units and an International Meeting. A stipend of up to $5,000 will be provided to the Traveling Fellow to defray reasonable costs for travel, lodging, and meals. |
| February 1, 2009: | Deadline for submitting applications for the Traveling Fellowship for Surgeons within the U.S. or Canada promotes interaction and learning among SSAT members within the United States or Canada. The traveling fellow will visit a University-affiliated or academic practice of his/her choosing, within the United States or Canada, for a period of six to ten days, under the sponsorship of a Society member at the hosting institution. A stipend of up to $3,500 will be provided to the Traveling Fellow, to defray reasonable costs for travel, lodging and meals. |
| April 24, 2009: | Early Bird registration for the 2009 Annual Meeting at DDW closes. After April 24th, registration fees increase $100. |
| The dates of the 50th Annual Meeting, in Chicago, Illinois (in conjunction with Digestive Disease Week). | |
| May 31, 2009: | The date of the 2009 Postgraduate Course, “Acute Care Gastrointestinal Surgery: Thinking on Your Feet; Dogma, Pearls, and Experience—A Case-Based Course”. Be sure to supplement your Annual Meeting registration by signing up for the 2009 Postgraduate Course, for which SSAT members receive preferred rates. |
2009 Annual Meeting
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The 50th Annual Meeting runs May 30 – June 3, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois, in conjunction with Digestive Disease Week.
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SSAT Foundation Establishes the Carol and Tom R. DeMeester U.S./Canadian Traveling Fellowship Endowment Fund
The Board of Trustees of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract Foundation is pleased to announce the establishment of the Carol and Tom R. DeMeester U.S./Canadian Traveling Fellowship Endowment Fund. In announcing the establishment of this endowment fund, the Foundation Board is asking the Society membership to consider a generous donation to the DeMeester Fellowship Fund at this time. Furthermore, at its May 2008 meeting, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract Board of Trustees voted to match all donations to the DeMeester Fellowship, as well as the SSAT Foundation, dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000. Thus, your generous gift now can be twice as valuable. Make a donation today! The Foundation welcomes secure online donations via credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express), as well as gifts of checks and securities.
The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract Foundation was founded in 2000 to support the mission, goals and objectives of the SSAT by serving as its fundraising and marketing arm. Since its inception the Foundation has received financial support from the Society and its members that vastly exceeded all expectations. That continuing commitment has advanced our efforts to build the base for extraordinary research and education opportunities that will go on in perpetuity. More...
NIH Seeks Proposals for 2009 Director's Pioneer and New Innovator Awards
Each September, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) makes grants to exceptionally creative scientists through the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award and NIH Director’s New Innovator Award programs. The pre-application period for the 2009 Pioneer Award opens on November 17, 2008, and closes on December 17, 2008. The 2009 New Innovator Award pre-application period begins on December 15, 2008 and ends on January 15, 2009. The NIH’s new Transformative R01 Program (T-R01s) will allow highly creative, “out-of-the-box” projects to be supported. The application submission period opens December 29, 2008 and closes January 29, 2009. Read complete details on both of these award opportunities.
JOGS Online Access and Manuscript Submission
The Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery (JOGS) articles are now published Online First in electronic form weeks before distribution of the print journal—even before the print issue and page numbers have been assigned. This is not a preprint service, but rather the publications in their final form. SSAT members in good standing are just two steps away from accessing their JOGS subscriptions and reading both Online First articles and those in print publication: 1) Log into the Members Only Area, then 2) click on the JOGS cover.
JOGS now offers its authors a web-based manuscript submission and review tracking system called Editorial Manager, which allows for quick and efficient processing of manuscripts. Read the revised Instructions to Authors, then log directly into Editorial Manager, where you may upload your manuscript files following the instructions provided on the screen.
