• Call for nominations now open
• Comment on draft MUS Statement
• 2014 AUGS/IUGA Scientific Meeting
• Register now-10 days left until fees increase
• Fellows’ Research Network Meeting
• Abstract submissions for the fellows’ research forum due Monday
• Special Interest Group meetings
• Scientific Program Search
• Life Magnified exhibit
• OAB webinar series part 2 of 2 on June 25
• World Continence Week is next week
• IUGA Facebook© photo contest submissions due Monday

Call for nominations now open
This year there are several positions available for nomination and ultimate election by the membership.  The election will take place in the fall of 2014.  The positions for which nominations are sought are:

Board
       Vice-President
       Treasurer
International Advisory Board, the representatives for
       Europe
       Latin America
       North America
Committee Chairs:
       Terminology and Standardization
Members of the Scientific Committee:
       Four vacancies
Members of the Nominating Committee:
       Two vacancies
Nominations may be submitted through the IUGA web site until noon EDT on Wednesday, July 23. Nominations may be submitted by any IUGA member in good standing, including the nominee him or herself.  One member may not be a candidate for more than one position.  Once their nomination is confirmed, nominees will be asked to submit a short position statement and a photo to be posted online prior to and at the time of voting.

For more information about the nominations process and to submit your nomination, please click here.

Comment on draft MUS statement
The IUGA Board would like to invite the membership to comment on a draft statement regarding mid-urethral slings that has been developed with input from the International Advisory Board.  The draft is available on the members-only section of the IUGA website by clicking here.  If you don’t recall your log-in details, or are having difficulty accessing the members-only section of the website, please contact Amy Cassini, the Membership Manager, at amy@iuga.org.  The deadline for submitting comments is Monday, July 14, at 0900 EDT (in North America).  The board plans on releasing the final statement during the joint annual meeting with AUGS in Washington, DC, July 22-26.

Register now-10 days left until fees increase
This is the first-ever joint meeting between AUGS and IUGA, so it’s sure to deliver the best of both organizations! Don’t miss out on exciting debates, innovative presentations during the scientific program, a fun new twist on the typical Friday night closing celebration and so much more. To view the various registration rates and types, please click here.  Advanced registration will close on June 30, at which time rates will increase.

IUGA members will be required to enter a key code during the registration process to identify them as members. The code and instructions for using it were sent via e-mail  on April 11th. You can also find the code on your profile page by logging in at www.iuga.org and selecting ‘Profile Home’ from the menu options on the left-hand side of the page.

CLICK HERE TO BEGIN YOUR REGISTRATION

Please send all registration questions to info@augs.org.

Fellows’ Research Network Meeting
The IUGA Fellows’ Committee invites you to join them for a Fellows’ Research Network Meeting during the AUGS/IUGA Joint Scientific Meeting on Thursday, July 24 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Room 156. Hear an update from the first FRN awardee, Dr. Gans Thiagamoorthy, about his study Post-Operative Pain after Pelvic Organ Prolapse surgery. Double blind randomised multicentre study to assess the effect of local anaesthesia during vaginal hysterectomy. The committee will also be discussing future plans for the FRN to potentially accept proposals for unfunded research. Please e-mail amy@iuga.org if you plan to attend this meeting.

Abstract submissions for fellows’ research forum due this Monday, June 23rd
The fellows will also be hosting a fellows’ research forum on Wednesday, July 23 from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The forum is structured a bit differently than the typical “fellows’ day”, but will still be an educational and fun opportunity for all who participate. It will begin with a one-hour keynote presentation by Dr. Rebecca Rogers focused on clinical research and grant writing. The second part of the forum will allow participants to present their research in small group settings where faculty advisors and peers will provide feedback and helpful tips. In order to present your research at the forum, you must submit an abstract by June 23rd using the designated abstract submission system, which can be accessed by clicking here. This activity is free to attend.

Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings
The IUGA SIG meetings will be held on Tuesday, July 22nd. The list of SIGs, a link to their web page on the IUGA web site and the time of each meeting is listed below:

Laparoscopic: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Neuro-Urogynecology: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation: 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Urogenital Pain: 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Scientific Program Search
Click here to browse abstracts and non-discussed posters by type, date, specialty, or science section. Workshops will be added at a later date.

“Life: Maginified” exhibit at Washington Dulles International Airport
If you are arriving in Washington, D.C. via Washington Dulles International Airport, you might want to stop by "Life: Magnified," a new exhibit featuring scientific images of blood, the brain, bacteria, viruses, and more, enlarged by as many as 50,000 times. The unusual exhibition is on display at the airport’s Gateway Gallery. The photographs were created by researchers who are either employed or funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The exhibit is cosponsored by the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the American Society for Cell Biology, and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Arts Program. For more information, please click here.

OAB Webinar Series Part 2 of 2: “Botox and Sacral Neuro-Modulation: Treating Refractory OAB”
June 25, 2014 at 3:00pm EDT
On Wednesday, June 25 at 3:00pm (early June 26 in Asia and Oceania) IUGA will offer the final installment of a two part OAB webinar series.  This day and time is equivalent to:

12:00pm in Los Angeles
4:00pm in Sao Paolo
8:00pm in London
9:00pm in Amsterdam and Cape Town
10:00pm in Riyadh
12:30am in New Delhi (on Thursday, June 26, 2014)
2:00am in Bangkok (on Thursday, June 26, 2014)
3:00am in Singapore and Bejing (on Thursday, June 26, 2014)
5:00am in Sydney (on Thursday, June 26, 2014)
7:00am in Auckland (on Thursday, June 26, 2014)

If your city is not listed above, please consult this link to see the time difference between your local time and 3pm EDT: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html 

As with previous webinars, this session will be recorded and will be available to members via the IUGA website.  This session will feature the following speakers and topics:

Moderator – Zeelha Abdool (South Africa)

Karl Tamussino (Austria)
Management of refractory OAB and the mechanism of action for Botulinum toxin, indications for use, and its efficacy and complications.

Kristine Whitmore (USA)
Sacral neuromodulation: method of preliminary and permanent implantation and its mode of action; full range of its potential benefits for both urinary and fecal incontinence.

Zeelha Abdool (South Africa)
Case scenarios submitted by IUGA members will be discussed. If you would like to have your OAB case discussed by the panel of experts, send a short paragraph of your clinical scenario to webinar@iuga.org by Sunday, June 22 to be considered for inclusion.

If you think you will attend this webinar, it is strongly advised that you visit the IUGA website at: http://www.iuga.org/?page=webinar and review the webinar tools that are posted.  This webinar will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.  Information regarding connecting to the webinar will be distributed to members a couple of days before the event.

To view recordings of the previous part 1 of the OAB series as well as the 3 part mesh webinar series, click here and find the section at the top labeled “Previously Recorded Webinars”. The recordings are available to members only. If you are not already logged-in to the IUGA web site, you will be prompted to log-in.

Celebrate World Continence Week
June 23rd-29th is the International Continence Society’s World Continence Week. The aim of WCW is to draw attention to and increase public awareness about these conditions and to give sufferers the confidence to seek help and improve their quality of life. There are several organizations supporting this effort and hosting incontinence events all around the world. For more information on how you can lend your support or get involved, visit http://www.ics.org/committees/continencepromotion/wcw.

IUGA Facebook© photo contest submissions end Monday, June 23^rd!
IUGA’s members work, and, in many cases, volunteer to make an impact on women’s health. Show the urogyn community, in a photo, what you and those you work with are doing to have a positive effect on the lives of women, in your community and around the world. Whether it’s performing fistula surgery in sub Saharan Africa or leading a patient education group in the middle of a bustling city like London, we want to hear about and see it! You could win one of three prizes including a Fitbit wireless or an iPod Touch. This is your last chance to submit since photos are due on Monday, June 23rd. Click here for more information.