The XXVI “100th Anniversary” International Congress of the IAP, hosted by the United States and Canadian Division, was held from September 16 to 21 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Palais des Congrès. The Congress was attended by approximately 2650 registered delegates from 95 countries. The scientific program was exceptional, with 97 courses, slide seminars and symposia—including almost 500 presentations—given by a world renowned Faculty of 450 specialists. Four plenary lecturers—Dan Connor, Greg Fuller, Michael Gimbrone and Dillwyn Williams—delivered timely and fascinating talks on tuberculosis, brain and thyroid neoplasia, and atherosclerosis. Approximately 875 posters were presented by individuals from 70 countries at four day-long poster sessions. The exhibit hall housed booths from 47 companies, including those of our two platinum sponsors Dako and Ventana.

Above: Rick Fraser with the Time capsule he prepared to Commemorate the Centenary of the IAP
Below: Looking down the St. Lawrence River which is an important waterway connecting the great lakes with the sea.

The Basilica of Notre Dame Montreal in which there was a concert during the congress.

Bursaries to attend the Congress were awarded to 84 applicants from over 30 countries. Forty-nine of these were donated by the United States and Canadian Division, 11 by the British Division and 8 by the Wellcome Foundation. Funding for 16 special Centennial Anniversary Bursaries was also provided by the Chairs of Pathology of a number of Canadian Universities, the Japanese Division of the IAP and the four Keynote speakers.

Rick Fraser with some of his inner circle of assistants (L) to (R) Kerry Crockett, Sophie Guillemette, Jim Crimmins, Joan O’Malley and Rick Fraser.

Other important members of the organising committee (L) to (R) Bernard Tetu and wife Aline. Bernard organised the slide seminar DVDs, Louis Lamarre and Dominique Trudel, Social programme.

Wolfgang Preisser, Henry Appleman (President of the USCAP, the host Division of the IAP) and Rick Fraser.

Josef Kobos from Poland registering and collecting his Congress satchel.

A number of special events were organized specifically to celebrate our 100th anniversary. These began with the opening ceremony, which included a narrative and collage of images that related the story of the IAP, from its founding by Maude Abbott, James Carroll and William MacCallum in 1906 to the creation of the many current Divisions around the world. Other projects included: a special publication Scientific Medicine in the Twentieth Century which documented a number of historical aspects of the Academy; a Time Capsule with a projected opening in 2106 at the 200th anniversary Congress; exhibits documenting the history of the McGill Medical museum and the past Presidents of the IAP; a commemorative edition of Abbott’s Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease; and an IAP Time Line which summarized the Academy’s history in words and images and which was shown during pauses in the scientific sessions.

Without high quality speakers scientific meetings will not attract an audience. The IAP is extremely grateful to its speakers who give of their time and talents generously and freely. One panel of speakers at the Long Course ‘Diagnosing AIDS and emerging infections in Resource limited Settings – (L) to (R) Dhaneshwar Lanjewar, Patrick Adegboyega,Martin Hale, Ann Marie Nelson and Sebastian Lucas.

Speakers at the Environmental Pathology symposium - Respiratory Toxicology (L) to (R) Komyo Eto, Jose Centeno, Mark Lyles, Robin Cooke, Florabel Mullick and Eduardo Santini-Araujo.

In the interests of conservation, cost reduction, and increasing efficiency and quality, the Organizing Committee decided to maximize the use of electronic material and communication. The quantity of paper used was significantly decreased by limiting much pre-congress promotion/publication to the web site, by accepting abstract submissions and registration solely via the web site, and by offering symposium handouts exclusively on CD-ROM. Representative slides of cases discussed at the short courses and slide seminars were scanned and distributed on DVD as “virtual” slides. Despite some worries early on, the transition to a more “electronic” Congress went smoothly.

The Telepathology session in progress. Moderated by Bruce Williams and Manfred Dietel, it was entitled ‘Breaking Glass: the advent of the Virtual slide’. The sessions at the Congress were very well attended as is usual for IAP conferences.

A varied social program was planned and most organized tours were almost sold out. Among the most popular were day trips to the Laurentian mountains and to Quebec City, an evening visit of the Chinese lantern festival at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, and a specially designed “Historical Medical Tour, which included visits to a local medical history museum and McGill University’s Osler Library. A choral concert at the historic Notre-Dame Basilica, church of Montreal’s very first parish, was attended by 1200 delegates.
From my, admittedly somewhat biased, point of view the Congress was a great success all around, including its scientific, educational, historical, social and financial aspects. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to help plan and guide this event and look forward to the XXVII Congress in Athens in 2008.

Rick Fraser
“Former” Congress President
November 2006

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Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease

By Maude Abbott with new pictures and a foreword by Richard Fraser.
Copies may be obtained from McGill-Queen’s University Press – marketing.mqup@mcgill.ca Price: Can Dollars $60.00

Scientific Medicine in the Twentieth Century – A commemoration of 100 years of the International Association of Medical Museums and the International Academy of Pathology

Editor: Robin A. Cooke

The cost of production of this book was partly covered by contributions from the listed sponsors, to whom we are grateful for their support.
The Australasian Division of the IAP;
Community Foundation for the Capital Region, Albany, New York, successor to Bender Hygienic Laboratory;
Ventana Medical Systems;
Queensland Health Pathology Services;
Symbion Health;
Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology;
Sonic Healthcare.

A limited number of copies of this book are available from the office of the USCAP 3643 Walton Way extension, Augusta GA 30909 USA. Please include your mailing address and payment for the handling fee of USD $25 made payable to the IAP with your order.
Some readers were curious about the origin of the photograph used on the front cover of this book. It was a copy of a photograph in the archives of the USCAP taken by the Editor some years ago. It shows Maude Abbott with Drs. Wallace Yater and Helen Ingelby. There was no definitive information available with the photo. Joan O’Malley, the very efficient secretary of Rick Fraser, did the detective work and found amongst her files a copy of the front page of the Washington Times of April 27, 1933. This was the source of the photo. The complete article is not included with this newspaper cutting, but what is there says that Maude was the first woman to address a meeting of the local society, perhaps the local medical society. Joan is trying to find more information from the archives of the Washington Times.

Robert Heinhuis from the Netherlands visiting the Historical Museum in the Trade Display area of the Congress.

The Hall of Presidents was a poster display of the CVs of all of the former Presidents of the IAP. It was prepared by Jean Silva, and Fred Silva seen here with Rick Fraser at the entrance to the display which was in the Trade Display area.

The Pathological Institute of McGill University in whose basement the Time Capsule will be stored.

A newly found portrait of Maude Abbott

Pamela Miller Chief Librarian of the Osler Library, Rick Fraser and Joan O’Malley with the newly found Eastlake portrait of Maude Abbott.

Rick Fraser and Joan O’Malley spent a great deal of time during the past 3 years in the lead up to the Congress ferreting through a great variety of archival material in McGill University with a view to the historical display they exhibited in Montreal as a small museum. Their enthusiasm was infectious and one of the notable discoveries was a previously unknown portrait of Maude Abbott made by a famous Canadian portrait painter, Eastlake. Erik Larsen, a pathologist and art expert in Calgary noticed what was listed as a portrait of a woman amongst a collection of Eastlake paintings that a dealer had just acquired from an Estate in England. He correctly identified it as being Maude Abbott and notified Rick. The purchase price was raised and the portrait is now a prized possession of the Osler History of Medicine Library in McGill University. It was one of the feature exhibits shown during the reception held in the Library and shown to the visiting pathologists who took the medical historical tour.

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