Dear Members of the American Head and Neck Society,

As summer unfolds, I want to extend my warmest wishes for a happy and restful season to each of you. It is a great honor to step into the role of President of our esteemed society, following the exemplary leadership of Dr. Bob Ferris. Bob is a tough act to follow, and I am grateful for his guidance and leadership. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the Executive Committee for their dedication, thoughtful leadership and for the solid foundation they have established and maintained.

I am excited to continue the important work of the AHNS and to support the vision set forth by our predecessors. If you are involved in fellowship training, you will have seen the results of our Advanced Training Council Match. This year we had 77 applicants, a record number, demonstrating the demand for our high-quality fellowships. After almost a year in the works, we are excited to announce our first focus of an official AHNS Clinical Practice Guideline, entitled “ANHS Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Management”, proposed by the Mucosal Section. Our virtual educational series continues to be both informative and impactful. Please check out our upcoming and previous webinars, here.

The 2025 COSM meeting will focus on the theme "Mind, Machine, and Medicine: Mobilizing Behavioral Health, AI, and Education to Advance Head and Neck Care." The program will be chaired by Drs. Susan McCammon, Aru Panwar, and Andrew Shuman, and will take place during COSM next spring in New Orleans. I hope you save the dates for this meeting May 14-15, 2025.

To complement and enrich these themes, we are launching several key initiatives to further our mission and advance the field of head and neck care. We want to continue the good work of last year’s task forces to continue to improve our fellowships and revenue. We are also placing special emphasis on two critical areas shaping 21st century practice: Behavioral Health and AI. Thus, we are establishing various task forces, including:  

• Artificial Intelligence Task Force

• Oral Surgery Task Force

• Revenue Task Force

• Quality and Value of Fellowships Task Force

• Behavioral Health Task Force

All these task forces will examine opportunities to enhance the education, fiscal health, collaboration, and standards of care of various aspects of our specialty. 

I look forward to collaborating with all of you as we embark on these initiatives and work together to advance our field.

Warm regards,

Bill Lydiatt, MD

President, American Head and Neck Society