Happy New Year from Dr. Miguel Ariza, NE AACE President

posted: January 6, 2020

Dear New England AACE Members,

It is an honor to serve as your Chapter President. Thanks to Dr. Barry Izenstein for his service as President from 2018 – 2019. I hope to continue building upon his legacy by bringing more integration to our 6 New England states.

Congratulations Drs. Elliot Sternthal, Leslie Eldeiry, William Sullivan, Stephanie Lee, Christine Twining and Nitin Trivedi, our newly appointed Emeritus Board Members.  Present since the early days of our Chapter, thanks to them we have been able to grow and become a model for other AACE chapters nationwide. As our chapter leadership transitions to a new generation of Endocrinologists we are thrilled to have their ongoing support and advice. On that note, I would like to introduce Dr. Maria Vamvini and Dr. Danica Vodopivec, our current Fellow In Training representatives. They will strive to advocate for our Fellows educational needs.

As most of you know, we had a management transition in the beginning of 2019 from AACE National to WJ Weiser & Associates, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. With hard work and commitment between the board and Weiser team, we were able to take big steps to improve our chapter and put together two very successful regional Chapter AACE Meetings this fall 2019 at the Newton Marriott: our Annual New England AACE Meeting and a joint Endocrine-Surgical Collaborative Program.

I am grateful to the meeting planning committees under the leadership of Drs. Palermo and Zerikly for the Annual Meeting and Dr. Hamoudeh for the Endocrine Surgical Program. Both meetings had record attendance numbers and received unanimous positive feedback. We congratulate Dr. Johanna Pallotta and Dr. Barry Sacks, recipients of the NE AACE Distinguished Member Award and the Distinguished Clinician Award respectively.  At a more local level we had a well-attended 3D “Dinner, Drink, and Discuss” Educational program organized by Dr. Gopalakrishnan and Dr. Trivedi in Providence, RI.

I am very excited to report that for 2020 a Diabetes Meeting is in the works for the June 6, 2020 at the Revere Hotel Bostom Common in Boston, MA and our Annual Meeting is set to take place October 24th, 2020 at the DCU Conference Center in Worcester, MA. Please mark your calendars!

We have already started working on Socio-economic issues affecting our Chapter Members: We have submitted a letter to the CMO of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, seeking elimination of a Prior Authorization requirement for Professional CGM use.

At a Chapter Organizational Level we have also set up Strategic Planning Committees looking at our long-term growth and financial health as well as exploring our ongoing affiliation with the National AACE Chapter.

This is YOUR New England Chapter. I highly encourage you to visit our website at endoconnection.com/ne where you can find information about our meetings. Please contact us with feedback or suggestions on how we can better serve your needs, your Fellows in training, and your patients.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we wish you a Happy Holiday Season!

Miguel A. Ariza, MD, FACE, ECNU
President of the New England Chapter of AACE