ASBMR President’s Report
January 2016
Dear Colleagues,
I am honored to present my first report as ASBMR President. There has been a great deal of activity in the past few months. In addition to my day job, these first few months of serving as ASBMR President have been busy ones. We have all been called on to make decisions about important directions and activities of the Society. I recently read the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and was struck by a statement made by the main character, “…making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he made the decision.” These currents are taking ASBMR to many new places and are changing our directions.
Let me summarize the currents in which we find ourselves since October 2015.
ASBMR Strategic Plan
Our new 2015-2018 Strategic Plan was shared with the membership and attendees at the Annual Meeting in Seattle and in our eNews Weekly. Our four key initiatives are:
- Closing the Treatment Gap, including Identification of an Improved Trial Endpoint
- Drive, Expand and Translate the Research Agenda in Musculoskeletal Science
- Increase International Outreach and Strengthen International Engagement to Create ‘One Global ASBMR Family’
- Develop New Strategies and Revenue Streams to Enable ASBMR to Invest in the Future of the Field
In addition, we presented a new mission statement, which will define our overarching long-term strategy: To advance bone, mineral and musculoskeletal science worldwide and to promote the translation of basic and clinical research to improve human health.
Since the Strategic Plan will drive our activities for the next three years, the following report highlights our activities as they fit within the key strategic priorities.
Closing the Treatment Gap, including Identification of an Improved Trial Endpoint
ASBMR Testimony at FDA Scientific Workshop on Osteoporosis Drug Development
One of my first official roles as ASBMR President was to present testimony on behalf of ASBMR at the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Scientific Workshop on Osteoporosis Drug Development: Moving Forward. My testimony urged the FDA to simplify osteoporosis treatment indication language, allow for more flexibility in clinical trial design, and to consider evidence-based surrogate endpoints for fracture in clinical trials.
Three sessions at the Workshop covered presentations from the FDA and industry representatives on osteoporosis treatment and prevention indication language, target population, osteoporosis clinical trial design, the future of osteoporosis trials, and surrogate endpoints for fracture. In the third session, FDA outlined the process to qualify biomarkers for potential approval as surrogate endpoints for fracture in clinical trials. Dennis Black, Ph.D., PI for the FNIH Bone Quality Project which ASBMR is supporting, provided an update on the project’s study of potential biomarkers for qualification. The meeting highlighted the need and potential for ASBMR‘s key role in advancing the treatment of osteoporosis, closing the treatment gap and identifying new endpoints for clinical trials. Many ASBMR members were present at the FDA hearing. My full testimony is available on the ASBMR website. Dennis Black also made a brief presentation during our Winter Council meeting regarding the FNIH Bone Quality Project.
ASBMR Task Forces on Clinical Issues
The Society’s task forces continue to work toward providing clarity on clinical issues that will better inform health care providers in the diagnosis and treatment of bone disease. The work of these important task forces has gained momentum in late 2015 and early 2016, and we can look forward to new task force reports in 2016. The currently active task forces include:
- Task Force on Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Vertebral Augmentation– Co-chairs Peter Ebeling, M.D., FRCP and Mary Bouxsein, Ph.D.
- Task Force on Cell-Based Therapies – A joint effort with the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), co-chaired by Regis O’Keefe, M.D., Ph.D. and Rocky Tuan, Ph.D.
The Task Force on Managing Osteoporosis Patients after Long-term Bisphosphonate Use, chaired by Robert Adler, M.D. and Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, M.D., M.P.H., published its report in JBMR® online in October and in print in January. I would like to thank the chairs and members of all of these task forces for their contributions toward these important initiatives.
National Bone Health Alliance (NBHA)
ASBMR continues to play a leadership role in the National Bone Health Alliance (NBHA). Robert Adler, M.D. serves as ASBMR’s co-chair of the Governing Committee. Now celebrating its 5 year anniversary, NBHA has focused many of its activities on facilitating the implementation of Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) to improve the treatment of osteoporosis.
Drive, Translate and Expand the Research Agenda in Musculoskeletal Science
Creation of Standards and Definitions Around Significant Research Tools
The ASBMR can promote and drive research through the creation of standards and definitions around significant research tools. This year, the strategic plan team identified two research tools to target initially, one clinical and one basic ?high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (“HR-pQCT”) and mesenchymal stem cells (“MSCs”). To address standards for HR-pQCT, the International Osteoporosis Foundation and ASBMR have agreed to partner on this initiative. In regard to MSCs, the Strategic Direction Workgroup is currently in the process of refining a plan to address this topic with a formal recommendation expected later this winter.
Advance Knowledge on Functional Genomics
Providing support to advance knowledge on functional genomics of skeletal disease is also a priority for the Society. This year, it has been my privilege to lead the planning of the ASBMR 2016 Annual Meeting Pre-meeting Symposium on ‘Bone–Omics: Translating Genomic Discoveries into Clinical Applications.” To build on the pre-meeting symposium, the Auerbach Lecturer, Michael Snyder, Ph.D., will speak on genomics and proteomics. Additionally, innovative educational sessions on how to use functional genomics in the bone field are being explored for the Annual Meeting and continued collaboration will occur with the IFMRS Big Data Work Group on several initiatives to address this priority, including the IFMRS Big Data Website Inventory. Recently the NIH issued a series of grant opportunities to expand the important work accomplished by the ENCODE project. One of the goals to expand the previous catalogue is to add samples that fill a particular gap in the cell space that has been previously interrogated by ENCODE. We want to populate an expanded ENCODE with greater numbers of bone cells.
Enhancing Clinical-Basic Interactions
Enhancing clinical-basic interactions to expand the translation of basic and clinical research is an important initiative that the Society is undertaking. A “champions group” of ASBMR members has been created to address this issue and they are currently in the process of identifying opportunities for “cross-talk” amongst basic and clinical researchers at the Annual Meeting and creating a resource that will bridge the gap in terminology. One idea that the Program Committee is pursuing is to organize the Meet the Professor sessions to include both a basic and clinical research Professor.
Publishing the Best Science
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the JBMR® under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Juliet Compston, M.D. continues to be the most cited bone journal, with an impact factor of 6.832, notably higher than those of any other journal in the field. The number of manuscript submissions to the Journal continues to grow and will likely exceed 950 in 2016. Online access is also increasing steadily, to the point that we expect 1 million visits to the JBMR website this year. This year will see the start of production of the 9th edition of the Primer, as well, under the direction of newly appointed Editor-in-Chief, John Bilezikian.
Reducing Publication Fees
Under consideration this year is a reduction in fees for publishing in the JBMR®, particularly for members. In particular, we are studying options for reducing the fee for color images. At our meeting last week, the ASBMR Council discussed the possible options and provided some suggestions for moving forward. This will continue to be a topic for discussion in 2016 until we reach a resolution.
New ASBMR Open Access Journal
The ASBMR Publications Committee and the Society’s publishing partner, Wiley-Blackwell, have put a great deal of effort into conceptualizing a new journal. In response to mandates by private and public funding organizations, and anticipating the increased interest in openly available science, the ASBMR is carefully considering the publication of an online-only fully Open Access journal. The new journal would seek original submissions and accept referrals from the JBMR®, providing bone scientists around the world with yet another outlet for publishing their work. A proposal for this new journal was approved by the ASBMR Council and planning will move forward for launch in 2017.
Increase International Outreach and Strengthen International Engagement to Create ‘One Global ASBMR Family’
ASBMR International Outreach
2015 was a productive year for our continued efforts to build relationships with bone scientists across the globe. In early 2015, the Executive Committee approved a discounted membership ($100 for full members) for bone scientists in Brazil, China and Argentina, where we presented sessions at local society meetings. We were pleased to welcome 37 new members as a result of our outreach activities – 7 from China, 18 from Brazil and 12 from Argentina.
In 2016 John Bilezikian, M.D. and Roberto Civitelli, M.D. will be traveling to Brazil to present ASBMR Annual Meeting Highlights Sessions at several meetings, including those of the Brazilian Society for Bone Metabolism (ABRASSO) and the Brazilian Society of Orthopedics on Bone Metabolism (ABOOM). Other opportunities in 2016 are still in development and we will make it a priority to continue our outreach internationally and to expand beyond China, Brazil and Argentina.
International Federation of Musculoskeletal Research Societies (IFMRS)
ASBMR has served, together with the ECTS, as a leader for the International Federation of Musculoskeletal Research Societies (IFMRS) since its inception in 2013. Our Executive Committee members have been actively involved in planning for the future of IFMRS, which will result in the winding down of the International Bone and Mineral Society (IBMS) and the transfer of its assets to IFMRS, as has been approved by all seven member societies. The planning has involved several work groups, which include strategic planning, governance and publications. The future of BoneKEy Reports is a topic of considerable attention.
The new board of directors of IFMRS has one representative from each IFMRS member society. ECTS and ASBMR will continue in the role of co-chairs, with Lynda Bonewald, Ph.D., continuing as co-chair until mid-2016, at which point Roland Baron, D.D.S., Ph.D. will assume the position of co-chair of IFMRS. The Board will meet in February to review the draft bylaws for IFMRS and to plan for the coming months.
Develop New Strategies and Revenue Streams to Invest in the Future of the Field
ASBMR Fund for Research and Education
The ASBMR Development Committee, co-chaired by Bart Clarke, M.D. and Shonni Silverberg, M.D., has worked hard over the last year to develop an individual giving campaign, the ASBMR Fund for Research and Education. “The Fund” was formally launched at the ASBMR Annual Meeting. The website, www.asbmrfund.org, is live and accepting donations for the following programs: Travel Fellowships, Honor Your Mentor Young Investigator Awards, Pilot Projects for Young Investigators, General Donations, Memorial Gifts and Honorary Gifts.
In the three months that the Fund has been active, we have collected over $16,000 in donations. This is quite an accomplishment in raising funds that will directly support ASBMR members. Fundraising activities will continue in 2016.
ASBMR Rising Star Award
The ASBMR Rising Star Award is now open for applications until March 18, 2016. Awardees will be announced in July 2016. The award will provide funding to our most promising young scientists and physician-scientists in the bone field who have already been recognized by NIH “K awards” and other similar international career development programs. The award will provide $60,000 in funding for up to six awardees to successfully implement their programs, stay in the field and transition to independent investigators.
Teresita Bellido, Ph.D. and Claus Glueer, Ph.D. have been appointed as Award Committee co-chairs and have worked with staff to develop eligibility criteria for the applicants and to identify the members of the Award Committees. In addition, they’ve developed a list of international grant funding mechanisms that are similar to the NIH K award. We thank Teresita and Claus for their work in developing the award as well as the substantial task of reviewing the applications that come in.
ASBMR 2016 Annual Meeting
The ASBMR Annual Meeting is the highlight of each year. I have truly enjoyed working with my colleagues Serge Ferrari, M.D., Ernestina Schipani, Ph.D., Jennifer Westendorf, Ph.D. and ASBMR staff to develop the scientific program for the 2016 Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Some highlights of the program include:
- Gerald D. Aurbach Lecture on “-omics”, Michael Snyder, Ph.D., Stanford (USA)
- Louis V. Avioli Lecture on Sex Steroids and Bone, Sundeep Khosla, M.D., Mayo Clinic (USA)
- Clinical Evening on “Can We Close the Treatment Gap for Osteoporosis?”
- Basic Evening on Brain Signaling to Bone
- A variety of symposia on BMPs, EPO, Cancer and Bone, Aging, Microbiome, Cortical Bone and Matricellular Proteins
In addition to the Annual Meeting, we will again host a pre-meeting symposium, ASBMR Symposium – Bone–Omics: Translating Genomic Discoveries into Clinical Applications, organized by Douglas P. Kiel, M.D., M.P.H., Fernando Rivadeneira, M.D., Ph.D., Cheryl Ackert-Bicknell, Ph.D. and Eric Orwoll, M.D. Highlights of the program include:
- The –Omics Revolution In Molecular Medicine
- Model Cells and Organisms To Understand Genome Biology
- Big Data and Networks
- Genomics Applied In Therapeutics
Future Pre-Meeting Symposia
This fall we submitted an R13 grant application to NIH for a three-year series of Pre-Meeting Symposia. This is the first time we have applied for a multi-year grant, and it was a laudable accomplishment to develop three different programs in such a short time. In addition to the Bone-Omics symposium in 2016, the application included plans for symposia in 2017 and 2018:
- 2017 - Current Concepts in Bone Fragility: From Cells to Surrogates, organized by Mary Bouxsein, Ph.D., Claus Glueer, Ph.D. and Marjolein van der Meulen, Ph.D.
- 2018 - Skeletal Contributions to the Joint Degeneration and Osteoarthritis, organized by Jennifer Westendorf, Ph.D., David Findlay, Ph.D. and Nancy Lane, M.D.
I thank the ASBMR Council and Committee Chairs for their efforts to support ASBMR’s mission to advance bone, mineral and musculoskeletal science worldwide and to promote the translation of basic and clinical research to improve human health. We have made substantial progress, but there is much left to be done. I am honored to be working alongside the ASBMR leadership and membership to accomplish this.
Sincerely,
Douglas P. Kiel, M.D., M.P.H
ASBMR President