By Beth Bales
The SVS Foundation Board of Directors has altered its infrastructure, including expanding the board and adding seats specifically for public members and changing the term of the Foundation chair to a three-year instead of a one-year term. Expanding the board provides for broader representation while the three-year term for the chair provides continuity, said Michel S. Makaroun, MD, whose term as chair ended in June.
In addition, the immediate past president of the SVS will no longer succeed to the chair position, but will serve on the Foundation board. In announcing these changes at the first SVS Annual Business Meeting on June 15, Makaroun named Peter Lawrence, MD, who chaired the Foundation in 2015–16, as the new chair. New public members are “friends of the SVS” Marty Sylvain and James Neupert.
Other infrastructure changes include the creation of three-year terms for board members, with the exception of staggered terms for the first cycle to provide continuity; the development of criteria for evaluation of current and future programs; and amended bylaws to enact the changes. Members of the SVS Foundation Development Committee are Peter Nelson, MD (chair), Thomas Forbes, MD (vice chair), Lawrence, Nilesh Bala, MD, Lisa Bennett, MD, Peter Brant-Zawadzki, MD, Rocco Ciocca, MD, Lisa Bennett, MD, Chanda Vemuri, MD, and Mohamed Zayed, MD. The other members of the Foundation Board of Directors are SVS treasurer Keith Calligaro, MD; Edith Tzeng, MD, chair of the Research Council; SVS president Ronald L. Dalman, MD; president-elect Ali AbuRahma, MD; immediate past president Kim Hodgson, MD; and SVS members William Shutze, MD, Richard Lynn, MD, Matthew Eagleton, MD, and Joseph Hart; as well as non-SVS members Nasim Hedayati, MD, Sylvain and Neupert.