ASAIO presidential address

ASAIO has a proud heritage and a list of many accomplishments. It has given birth to many highly specialized societies and meetings. These changes and new developments in other fields have diverted it from being mainly a kidney society to being more multidisciplinary than ever before. Although meeting attendance declined for a number of years, the productivity of the society did not. Now attendance is increasing, and the number of submitted abstracts has exceeded all past records. Increasing activity in ASAIO may reflect the awareness of the need for a multidisciplinary meeting in this explosive era of artificial organ development. ASAIO can and should play a major role in fostering artificial organ research and development in the years to come. I am confident that it has the strengths to accomplish many important goals. I am very proud to have served as President of this society with a marvelous past and a promising future.