Message from the President
Dr Simon Courtman
President of the APAGBI
On behalf of the APAGBI, we are delighted for the opportunity to invite you to join us at our Annual Scientific Meeting in Edinburgh in 2025. It has been a decade since we last held our meeting in Scotland, and much longer since we visited the historic capital city of Edinburgh with its spectacular views, panoramas and iconic skyline.
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The organising team, based at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, are in the process of bringing together an exciting programme of expert speakers to share their knowledge and experience being presented in the impressive Edinburgh International Conference Centre. This purpose built conference centre will provide excellent facilities for the delivery of the lectures and workshops. We are also looking forward to receiving our guests from the Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists (SPA) from the US who will be contributing to the scientific programme and I’m sure will be receiving the best of Scottish hospitality. The Scottish Paediatric Anaesthetic Network (SPAN) will also be included in the provision and delivery of the meeting.Away from the main scientific meeting, the organising team have organised a drinks reception and dinner to highlight the best of Scottish culture and cuisine, and I suspect some dancing may be included. This is always an invaluable time to catch up with colleagues and build new relationships, which seems ever more precious since the pandemic.
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Personally, my previous APAGBI annual scientific meetings in Scotland (Aberdeen, Glasgow) and SPAN meetings (Dunkeld, Crieff and recently Dundee) have all been memorable and I hope you take the opportunity to support this meeting and share in what will be a truly enjoyable experience.
Message from the SPA
Emmett Whitaker, MD, FAAP
Member-at-Large, Board of Directors
Society for Pediatric Anesthesia
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine
Johns Hopkins University
The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) was founded in 1986 to encourage research, education, and scientific progress in the field of pediatric anesthesiology. Our mission is to advance the health and well-being of children through perioperative care, education, research, advocacy, and collaboration among members, patients, families, and professional organizations worldwide. SPA consists of the main society as well as its two component societies (Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine (SPPM) and the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS)). SPA has committees and special interest groups focused on all aspects of perioperative care of children, global health equity, and the well-being of care providers. Of the 4100 members of SPA, 200 are international and 700 are trainees. As a society, we are thrilled to be a part of the APAGBI 2025 meeting!