Kamal M.F. Itani, MD

I have spent my life studying and treating surgical infections. I am blessed to have the luxury of deploying costly treatments to provide the highest quality care. Unfortunately, not all clinicians in the world have this luxury; in some cases, clinicians must choose between the most basic of necessities when providing care. Despite differences in resources, patients in developed and less developed countries continue to suffer from surgical infections. We are still far from curing surgical infections, and it is a global challenge.

Our future is dependent on collaboration as our world shrinks. For example, a resistant organism in South East Asia can spread to North America in no time. As a result, antibiotic stewardship is no longer a developing world issue but a global necessity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have taken the first steps by creating guidelines for the prevention of surgical site infection, but there is plenty of work to be done. In 2018, we are dedicating our efforts to the worldwide fight against surgical infections. As such, I want to extend the warmest invite to our colleagues from around the world, and representatives from our sister surgical infection societies in Europe, Latin America, and Asia to join us at our annual meeting in Westlake, California.