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Introducing IDSNY
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Who we are IDSNY brings together the community of infectious diseases
specialists of the metropolitan NY area. Our membership is comprised of
physicians, researchers and others with a strong interest in ID. IDSNY is an
independent society, founded in 1993 and recognized as
a regional arm of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
What we do Each year, we hold an annual symposium, named to
commemorate one of IDSNY's founders, Harold C Neu MD. A
scientific session is held in the afternoon, followed by dinner and a
business meeting. Once or twice a year, IDSNY collaborates with Intercity
Infectious Disease Rounds to hold meetings on special topics of interest.
As an organization, we can respond to public health crises with more
capability and authority than as individuals. We are a resource of
information on infectious diseases for local officials; we are able to serve
as a conduit between the NYC Dept of Health and ID specialists.
Our future plans include sponsoring a research fellowship; issuing
position statements on current ID topics, such as bio-terrorism and emerging
diseases.
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A Brief History
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In 1992, a group of physicians decided that the metropolitan New York
infectious diseases community needed a local chapter of the Infectious
Diseases Society of America.
The founders knew each other from Intercity Rounds, as well
as by reputation. They believed the metropolitan NY ID community could have a
strong voice in shaping public health policy if it were formally organized.
They hoped, also, to strengthen the community of ID specialists, and to
encourage ID education and research.
In the spring of 1993, IDSNY held its first meeting. Harold
C Neu MD was elected President; Donald Armstrong MD President-Elect; Michael
L Tapper MD Vice President; and Arthur E Brown MD Secretary/Treasurer. The
organization was originally the New York Society of Infectious Diseases; in
2003, the name was modified to make it closer to IDSA and to use the initials
as a web address.
Harold Neu was ill at the time he assumed the presidency;
part of his legacy to the ID community was his founding of IDSNY. He died in 1998.
To commemorate Dr Neu's contributions to medicine, infectious diseases,
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and to IDSNY, the annual scientific
sessions of IDSNY became the Harold C Neu Symposium.
One of the most critical reasons behind the founding of
IDSNY was to create an organization which could react to threats to public
health. The World Trade Center attack, bio-terrorism and emerging diseases
such as SARS and West Nile, proved the vision of the founders, and the
relevance of IDSNY. Further
history of the IDSNY can be found at History of the IDSNY
website.
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