A Message From the President of the International Society for Laboratory Hematology: International Symposia; New Officers, Board Members, and Councilors

As President of the International Society for Laboratory Hematology (ISLH), I am happy to report on the major activities and accomplishments of ISLH since my most recent message 1. In this editorial I will focus on the 2025 Annual Meeting and the results of the 2025 ISLH elections. I would also like to announce the names of our members who were awarded emeritus status at the 2025 Meeting. We have now held our most recent congress, the XXXVIIIth International Symposium on Technical Innovations in Laboratory Hematology, which was held May 7–9 in the charming Canadian city of Halifax in association with the Canadian Hematology Society (CHS), the North American Specialized Coagulation Laboratory Association (NASCOLA), Accreditation Canada (AC), and the Institute of Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH). The meeting had a combined attendance of 522 (475 in-person and 47 virtual) from 47 countries. We continue to have a strong focus on research: this year 296 abstracts were submitted, of which 172 were presented. On behalf of myself, my co-program director (Katrien Devreese), Program co-chairs (Karen Moffat, Marian Rollins-Raval, Sumedha Kulkarni, and Cathy Hayward), and abstract chairs (Martha Viveros, Sabrina Racine-Brzostek, Anna Johnston, and Swati Pai), I thank everyone who participated in the planning and very successful execution of this exciting meeting. The results of our elections were announced at the annual business meeting, and I would like to personally welcome the new and returning board members and councilors (Table 1). I am excited to note that we continue our international mission: our executives, board and councilors are drawn from all six populated continents. I thank you for offering to contribute your expertise to our organization and look forward to working with you. Four of these individuals are beginning a second term on the board (Simon Davidson, Swati Pai, Eloisa Urrechaga, and Martha Eva Viveros). I thank our departing Councilor representing Turkey, Ilknur Kozanoglu, and our outgoing VP of Membership Engagement, Karen Moffatt. I would also like to congratulate Robert Gosselin and Raul Braylan, who were awarded ISLH emeritus status in view of their numerous contributions to laboratory medicine and our society. Our upcoming congress, which will be held April 17–19, 2026 in Edinburgh, Scotland, in collaboration with the United Kingdom National External Quality External Assessment Service (UK NEQAS). I am indebted to (1) the program co-directors (Katrien Devreese and Chee Wee Tan), (2) program co-chairs Simon Davidson (ISLH) and Barbara De La Salle (UK NEQAS), and (3) abstract chairs, Swati Pai (ISLH), Martha Viveros (ISLH), and Ketkee Kothadia (UK NEQAS). I hope to see many of you there, for what I am certain will be an inspiring and scientifically robust congress. The author has nothing to report. Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.