As we come together for VAM 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable progress we’ve made over the past year and to thank each of you for your dedication to our shared mission.
This past year has been one of bold action, strategic growth and meaningful impact. With the guidance of our SVS Executive and Strategic boards, and the tireless efforts of more than 560 volunteers across over 40 committees, taskforces, and writing groups, we’ve continued to advance the Society’s vision in powerful ways.
A key milestone was the expansion of our Executive Board from nine to 11 members, including five new at-large positions. This restructuring enhances our ability to respond to the evolving needs of our profession and ensures broader representation across our increasingly diverse membership.
Among our most visible accomplishments was the launch of the Highway to Health national branding campaign. This initiative introduced vascular surgery to the public with unprecedented reach: over 1.5 billion media impressions and over 3,500 placements since in launch last October.. It also brought to life our new patient-facing website, YourVascularHealth.org, a vital tool for education and outreach.
In advocacy, the SVS remained a strong and consistent voice in Washington. We engaged in critical conversations around physician payment reform, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) fee schedules and legislation impacting both providers and patients. I encourage you to join us this September for our inaugural SVS Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., where we will continue to shape the future of vascular care together.
Our commitment to quality and innovation remains a cornerstone of our work. The Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) continues to lead nationally in data-driven improvement. We celebrated the first community hospital verification through the Vascular Verification Program, and we launched a new Advanced Practice Provider Task Force to explore collaborative care models.
We also reaffirmed our commitment to outpatient and office-based care. The newly renamed Section on Ambulatory Vascular Care (SAVC) released the OBL Handbook, a valuable resource for our members.
As the pace of change accelerates, so too must our strategy. We are committed to evolving the Society to meet new challenges and seize emerging opportunities. Every dollar contributed, through dues, donations, or program support, helps us do just that. Your support is not only appreciated, it is essential.
Our membership continues to grow and diversify, now approaching 6,400 strong. The creation of the Young Surgeons Section (YSS) has energized early-career engagement, while the newly approved Senior Section ensures continued value and connection for our later-career members.
We also launched a new and improved VascuLEARN platform, offering accessible webinars, micro-learning, and short videos, an online hub for vascular education that has already served over 1,300 learners in the past three years.
In publishing, we reached a major milestone: the Journal of Vascular Surgery-Vascular Science (JVS-VS) has been indexed and will now carry an Impact Factor, thanks to the leadership of Dr. Alan Dardik, Tyler Cosgrove and our partners at Elsevier.
Finally, our Voices of Vascular campaign celebrated the stories of an assortment of stand-out SVS members, and our community came together to fund a new Vascular Care for the Underserved (VC4U) grant, which supports innovative solutions for populations affected by peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
These achievements are a testament to the strength of our community. They reflect your dedication, your expertise and your belief in the power of collective action. As we celebrate our progress and look ahead, I am inspired by what we can accomplish together.
Thank you for being part of this journey. I look forward to the conversations, collaborations and innovations that will emerge from this year’s meeting.
Matthew Eagleton, MD, DFSVS
SVS President
