Dear Friends:

I take this opportunity to thank the Board of Directors of American Association of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research (AAISCR) for their confidence in me to lead our organization as it moves forward to complete twenty years of its existence under my watch. Also, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Varsha Gandhi, outgoing president for her hard work for the last two years (2009-2010).

I extend a hearty welcome to all the new members and thank Life members for their continued support for this organization. It is our organization and how we shape the future of this organization depends on the active participation and support of all the members.

I am pleased with the increased response for young investigator award nominations for the last three years from postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. From next annual meeting (2012, Chicago), in addition to formal recognition of our young investigators, we are also planning to give some monetary rewards. I am pleased to inform you all that some of the biotechnology leaders who are closely associated with our organization are on board to support this new initiative. I am also looking for more industry partners in order to fully subsidize our future AAISCR annual meetings.

We will continue the publication N-LINK and hope to bring 3-4 issues a year. I am counting on the help of Dr. Shilpi Arora (Editor of N-LINK) and members of editorial team in bringing this important news letter to share the activities and achievements of our members with other members and readers at large.           

Dr. Sujay Singh who helped in giving a new look to our website will continue to help us with the website. We will be updating many of its contents and will be archiving previous issues of N-LINK along with other upgrades and improvements.

I am looking forward to your constructive input and suggestions to improve the activities of AAISCR. I would like to thank once again all the members, N-LINK and annual meeting sponsors as well as advertisers for their support of this organization.

Sincerely,

Rajeshwar Rao Tekmal
President, AAISCR
Tekmal@uthscsa.edu; 210-567-4930