Welcome to the 43rd Annual Conference of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine hosted by the Georgia Aquarium and fueled by the tireless efforts of members of Dr. Greg Bossart's Animal Health, Research & Conservation team. Tonya Clauss started working on conference preparation logistics in February 2011 and was later joined by Lisa Hoopes and Cara Field in the coordination process. I have enjoyed our countless conference calls and email messages as the conference planning took place. Lots of laughter! With the support and guidance of other Georgia Aquarium staff we have an exciting few days planned in Atlanta. Many thanks to Kristie Cobb-Hacke, Leah Humphries, Stephanie Brown & Maren Wronowski (Development), Natasha Cary, Carey Dreher (Catering), Carrington Moore (Events) and Catherine Johansson (Volunteering), Billy Hurley, Chris Coco, Chris Schreiber, Kevin Curlee, Eric Gaglione, Dennis Christen, Michael Hunt, Eric Hall & Helen Ellis (Zoological Operations), Together we were able to secure $25,000 in monetary sponsorships, and over $10,000 of in-kind contributions to offset the conference costs. Thank you to our sponsors.

Kudos to our board members who have assisted in this enormous undertaking. Many thanks to Lisa Mazzaro for answering numerous emails, and providing invaluable information on the overall process. Pam Tuomi continues to be our financial guru, helping with registration issues and sponsorship checks. Student members, you are in good hands with our Education chair, Lisa Murphy. Cindy Driscoll patiently helped with panicked members wanting to renew memberships. Stephanie Venn-Watson kept us all informed and up to date with timely newsletters. And for keeping us legitimate, thanks to Chris Dold, along with former board member Craig Harms, in making sure we have CE credits for the meeting.

Thank you also to our various IAAAM committee chairs for their help throughout the year. Sam Dover, our Site Selection Committee chair, helped get us closer to a venue for the 2015 meeting. Katie Colegrove, our Student Liaison Committee chair, has orchestrated a new format for our student workshop, a "meet and greet" session between impressionable students and the entrenched guard. Tracy Romano continues to guarantee our student support funds are available through her work as the Student Endowment Oversight Committee chair. And to ensure that IAAAM lives long and prospers, our Nominations and Awards Committee members, Tom Reidarson, Craig Harms and Judy St. Leger, continue to select some of the best. Last, but definitely not least, many thanks to John Jones, our Webmaster. John receives the "most patient" award for dealing with various website issues. If we could, we would award the R.U. Dunn award to the website provider who shall remain nameless!

This year we have 7 workshops and a total of 130 abstracts (33 poster presentations, 94 oral presentations, and 3 plenary speakers). I think that is the most we have ever had!!

Thank you to our workshop organizers: Leigh Clayton and Susan Friedman (Behavior and Training), Billy Hurley and the Georgia Aquarium Zoo Ops Staff (Marine Mammal Training), Judy St. Leger (C.L. Davis Histopathology), Mike Briggs (Conundrums), Ruth Francis-Floyd, Tonya Clauss, Aimee Berliner, Shane Boylan and Cara Fields (Elasmobranch Workshop), Mike Walsh, Eric Hall, and Ed Felatson (Life Support Systems), and Katie Colegrove (Student Workshop).

Where would I be without my session chairs? Thank you to Don Stremme (Anesthesia, Analgesia), Steve Osborn and Kathy Heym (Case Reports 1), Nicola Pussini (Case Reports 2), Lisa Hoopes and Shane Boylan (Case Reports 3), Mike Adkesson (Clinical Pathology, Pharmacology), Eric Anderson (Fish Medicine), Mike Renner (Immunology, Virology, Research), Mike Hyatt (Infectious Disease), Christie Hicks (Ophthalmology), Kelly Helmick (Pathology), Genevieve Dumonceaux (Posters), Elsa Haubold (Stranding, Management), Caryn Poll (Techniques 1), Robert George (Techniques 2), and Cindy Driscoll (Toxicology, Oil Spill).

And finally - a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you for participating and being a part of IAAAM! What would we be without you?! Enjoy the conference!

Ilze K. Berzins
Program Chair and IAAAM President-Elect