Global Events Visionary: Mr. Thomas (Tom) Reiser
With more than 20 years of experience, Thomas Reiser brings a wealth of global experience, expertise, and strategy to the global events and meetings industry. Thomas outstanding leadership in his respective roles in the healthcare sector over the years is truly inspiring. Under his leadership as the Executive Director of the International Society on Thrombosis & Haemostasis (ISTH), “a global not-for-profit membership organization advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic and bleeding disorders,”[i] ISTH’s global expansion has been significant as it aims to increase its membership especially to countries with limited resources and connect clinicians and researchers from around the world united under one mission.
Thomas was in the middle of business travel but was able to share the following…
JN: What are the benefits of being part of your organization?
TR: Apart from the many opportunities to become involved in shaping the future of the field, the exchange of science, access to a plethora of scientific and educational materials, as well as being part of the global network, the work ISTH does truly saves people’s lives. As a medical-scientific professional organization, our members are on the forefront of resolving basic science, clinical and laboratory challenges, developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches that ultimately lead to the improvement of the care of patients. While much of it is focused on educating clinicians and scientists around the world – in many cases through meetings – one of our programs that has the broadest impact on peoples’ lives is our award-winning World Thrombosis Day (www.worldthrombosisday.org) campaign, which raises awareness about potentially deadly blood clots. In just five short years, we have created a network of over 1,000 partner organizations in over 100 countries that stage over 8,000 events/activities per year to educate about the risks, signs and symptoms of blood clots and what can be done to prevent, diagnose and treat them. We have countless of examples of people from around the world telling us that our campaign has saved them or a loved-one from a blood clot. It is a wonderful example of how the world can come together to do something truly good and impactful.
JN: What legacies are your association creating?
TR: There are truly many. ISTH – back in the early 1950 – was the first organization that started to create consistent nomenclature and scientific standards of newly discovered blood clotting factors to help the emerging field of hemostasis to develop in a unified way across the world. This enabled research to speed up and ultimately led to the development of the diagnostics and therapies patients around the world today take for granted and that save lives every day. This work continues today as the understanding of the complex bleeding and clotting system deepens. Apart from leading the basic and clinical research side, ISTH has also – over decades now – played a strong role in building medical capacity in countries with limited resource. As such, ISTH is active in 40 some developing countries with teaching courses and other educational missions. Another key aspect is to bring the global thrombosis and hemostasis community together and connecting clinicians and researchers from around the world. This is also where our congresses – which rotate around the world – play a key role as they help to strengthen that international network and leave a deeper and more meaningful impact in the respective country and region.
JN: What are some of the lessons learned from being international?
TR: The biggest lesson to share would be to thoroughly enjoy the differences in cultures, approaches, and backgrounds. Doing work on a global basis is complex but it is also so rewarding and provides you with even greater opportunities to make a difference and to learn new things every day, work with wonderful people from around the world and broaden your own professional and personal horizons. This is an enormous privilege and something to be truly cherished as not many people are fortunate to experience it.
[i] History of ISTH. https://www.isth.org/page/History?
