Because of the difficulty in reconciling conflicting schedules to arrange in-person meetings, the Development Committee has decided to become a "virtual" committee. Members are now called upon as needed to assist in development activities.

Fundraising for Preventive Medicine 2003 has exceeded expectations with over $200,000 raised thus far. Dr. Tilson and Jud Richland visited AHRQ in June to discuss ACPM’s conference grant proposal to AHRQ. This may have played a role in AHRQ’s recent award to the College of a grant of nearly $50,000. In addition, our relationship with CDC is now fantastic. CDC will provide about $100,000 in support for the meeting, and three different centers at CDC are helping to plan meeting sessions.

Major commitments of support have also been received from several other organizations, including Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, American Legacy Foundation, and GlaxoSmithKline. Fundraising efforts for the meeting are ongoing with more successes expected.

ACPM has met with Wyeth Ayerst officials on several occasions in recent months about the possibility of undertaking a flu immunization education campaign. We anticipate submitting a formal proposal to Wyeth Ayerst in the coming weeks. The proposal will be scaled down somewhat from our original discussions with Wyeth, but will include activities in which the College has a proven track record, for example, developing educational materials, including educational content about influenza on the ACPM web site, and convening at least one annual meeting session on the topic.

Spearheaded by Bob Harmon, ACPM prepared a draft proposal to submit to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to substantially increase funding for preventive medicine residency programs and to develop a system to track the career advancements of graduating residents. Before submitting the proposal, ACPM met with an RWJ official and was told that the proposal was unlikely to be funded in its current form. ACPM aims to continue a dialogue with RWJ to determine if a successful proposal can be developed. In the meantime, ACPM anticipates sharing the proposal with other possible funders.

In mid-November, ACPM will send its annual Future of Preventive Medicine Fund appeal to ACPM members. Our objective is to enroll new President’s Society members and to garner at least $12,000 in unrestricted contributions