As most of you have heard by now, Frank Wilton resigned his position as our President and CEO. We thank Frank for his contributions and service to AATB and wish him well in his future endeavors. This transition provides us an opportunity to clarify our priorities and deeply discuss our strategic and tactical plans for the remainder of this year as well as 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year horizons.

Spring is the perfect season to reenergize and begin new initiatives, and that's exactly what we’re doing here at the AATB home office. We recently opened several opportunities for our members to engage with us, including submissions for all of our 2019 Annual Awards (Achievement Awards, Communication & Education Awards, and Abstract Awards), nominations for several seats on the AATB Board of Governors, and a contest to determine the new Certified Tissue Bank Specialist program logo. We are also currently preparing for the launch of the new CTBS Exam testing format, and our new electronic accreditation management system.

I hope that everyone entered the new year feeling happy, healthy, and refreshed. Here at the AATB home office, the holiday season already seems so far behind us as we busily work on a host of new projects. I would encourage you to first reflect back on the past year of work in our recently released 2018 Year in Review, and then get excited for all of the new projects to come in 2019.

As I reflect back on the past year's activities and accomplishments, I’m once again amazed at the incredible progress that we've been able to achieve. From the introduction of new educational programming, to the addition of two new AATB Councils, it's been an exciting year of progress and improvement.In the past few months alone we've hosted our 42nd Annual Meeting, certified 282 new Tissue Bank Specialists, and guided 29 tissue banking professionals through our third annual Emerging Leaders Program.

For me, as is likely the case for many of you, the fall has already been a blur of activity. My schedule has been packed with conference travel, trips to several tissue banks, and preparations for our Annual Meeting, in addition to the launch of several new AATB resources and the introduction of a few new faces around the office.

I hope your summer is going well and you are finding some time to relax and recharge your batteries. It’s been an exciting summer of change here at AATB. We recently announced the results of the recent AATB Council Officer elections, launched the CTBS Exam Question Writing Contest to assist us in our transition to an electronic exam format, and welcomed two new staff members to the AATB team. In addition, preparations are ramping up for several upcoming educational programs, including the 42nd AATB Annual Meeting, our third annual Emerging Leaders Program, as well as our first ever Quality Auditor Training Program.

The past few months have been busy here at the AATB office. We recently opened up registration for the 2018 CTBS Exam and launched our brand-new, redesigned CTBS Exam Prep Course. We also announced a new training opportunity, the Quality Auditor Training Program, which is currently open for registration and will be taking place later this summer. We also hosted our annual spring meeting, the Quality & Donor Eligibility Workshop (QDEW) in Baltimore, Maryland. ​
 

As we wait for the start of warmer spring weather here in Virginia, things are already heating up at the AATB office. We are especially excited to announce the release of our first ever AATB Annual Report. You can view a digital copy of the report here. This report covers our accomplishments in 2017, and introduces some of the future goals and initiatives of the Association. The report also includes the preliminary results from the National Tissue Recovery through Utilization Survey (NTRUS), which are featured in an article included in this issue.We are also looking forward to our upcoming spring workshop, the release of our newly revamped CTBS Preparatory Course, upcoming opportunities for engagement, the opening of nominations for multiple AATB awards, and the addition of a new AATB team member.

I hope that everyone is having a great start to their new year. Here at the AATB office, we've already begun work on several new projects to ensure that 2018 is another successful year. We have revamped our webinar series structure and made some major improvements to our CTBS Prep Program. We have also launched a brand-new page on our website which details the advocacy initiatives of the AATB Tissue Policy Group (TPG).​

This fall was a busy time for us here at the AATB home office. In addition to our regular activities and continued work to implement our three-year strategic plan, we also hosted our 41st Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, and our second annual Emerging Leaders Program in Alexandria, Virginia.