A Note from Dave’s Desk

ASPET Divisions Bring You Home

When I talk with ASPET members, I like to ask them about how they first got involved with the Society. Time and time again, the story I hear involves our divisions. For many members, the ASPET Divisions are how members meet future colleagues and make meaningful connections. Both anecdotally and in surveys, it’s clear that many of our members first realize that ASPET is their professional home through their involvement with one of our divisions.

Every member of ASPET receives free membership in our divisions. Along with selecting one of the 10 divisions as your primary division, you can also select as many secondary divisions as you’re interested in. Members can then choose from a variety of ways to engage with their division, as well as take advantage of their division’s awards and benefits. As just a few examples, members can connect with colleagues at division virtual town halls, division-sponsored Focus on Pharmacology webinars, or a variety of events division host at the ASPET Annual Meeting each year. Additionally, divisions provide a variety of opportunities for awards to recognize excellence in their respective area of specialty and for outstanding poster presentations at the ASPET Annual Meeting.

In recognition of just how important the division experience is for our members, ASPET has recently established a new task force focused on strengthening that experience. In line with our Strategic Plan’s focus on making ASPET the professional home for all engaged with pharmacology, the Strengthening Divisions Task Force has been created to evaluate how divisions currently operate, identify best practices from other associations that have divisions and recommend ways to improve the member experience with divisions going forward.

Divisions are a key component for how our members experience ASPET. Whether at the ASPET Annual Meeting or through a variety of virtual activities, I strongly encourage all our members to get involved with their division(s) as I’m confident it will be well worth your time.