Chair’s Message: A New Horizon for Our PDA Members around the World

This last year was a great one for PDA. After two years of virtual meetings, in 2022, we saw the return of face-to-face meetings around the globe. In-person meetings were held in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. While the virtual meetings had great content and were well attended, the energy generated in person just cannot be replicated in the virtual environment. Another advantage of the face-to-face meeting is the opportunity for our advisory boards, chapter presidents and interest group leaders to meet in person and exchange ideas that keep the organization fresh and moving forward in a direction that best serves our members.

In 2022, the PDA introduced a new membership structure that is membership-driven. Members can now choose the services that best suit their needs and pay a comparable fee. Additionally, members are now prompted to join any or all PDA interest groups in which they wish to participate. This new feature allows the interest group leaders to reach out directly to our members, offering expertise and ideas that have the potential to drive the organization forward in the critical areas represented by the various interest groups. Therefore, I urge everyone to choose an interest group to join and start participating in the important dialog that will help PDA maintain its leadership role in the industry.

This last year also saw the announcement that Richard Johnson, PDA President, will retire in the first quarter of 2023. Richard has been president of PDA for 13 years and has successfully guided the organization to its leadership status it enjoys in today’s industry. PDA’s opinions on various topics are sought after by regulators and health authorities around the globe due to Richard’s presence, knowledge and professionalism. He has visited every PDA chapter over the years and has helped to bring the membership together to achieve the vision and mission of PDA of Connecting People, Science and Regulation®. Richard will certainly be missed.

With the announcement of Richard’s retirement, we also saw the announcement that the new President of PDA will be Glenn Wright. Glenn brings an enormous amount of experience to the role. In his PDA membership role, Glenn served over two years as Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs. He also marked his presence on various advisory boards, such as the PDA Board of Directors, participated in interest groups, wrote technical reports and white papers, and developed and delivered training on various topics. This experience and background make Glenn uniquely qualified to lead the organization in 2023 and beyond.

Now, though 2022 was a great year with unforgettable achievements and memories, I must say that I enthusiastically look forward to an even better year in 2023.