In the next few blog posts we will be introducing our Operational Committees. Operational Committees work on the short and long-term goals driven by the strategic plan and vision of the organization. Each committee has a specific purpose and works closely with the Board of Directors and IADMS staff to accomplish their goals. We have ten committees, which include the following:

• Dance Educators
• Dance for Health
• Development
• Physician
• Professional Development
• Program
• Promotion
• Publications
• Research
• Student

We asked each of our committees to share with us information about what their committee is about and what work they get up to. Below you will see responses from the Program Committee:

What work within IADMS is the Program Committee responsible for?

The Program Committee is actively engaged in the planning process for the Annual Conference and Regional Meetings. The program committee oversees and carries out the abstract submission, review and selection process, and invites keynotes speakers to the conference. Further, the committee monitors feedback from members and attendees to ensure high-quality programming is produced to address the needs and wants of the IADMS constituency.

What is the mission statement for the Program Committee?

Mission: The mission of the IADMS Program Committee is to create an inclusive annual meeting program to aid in the advancement of dance science and medicine

Who are your current members?

Co-chairs: Johanna Osmala, PT & Kelli Sharp, DPT

Courtney Gleason, MD

Judith Peterson, MD

Ines Pinto, MD, PhD, PSYD

Juncal Roman, MSc

Matthew Wittstein, PhD

What are some of the recent projects your committee has been working on?

Our committee has been working on few major topics over the past two years:

Assessed and readjusted systems to enhance the review process to be more equitable and inclusive.

• Created new abstract submission and abstract reviewer instructions.
• Assessed and Adjusted standard operating procedures for each step in the abstract review and placement process.
• Adapted timeline to be more efficient to be used for meetings in the future years.

IADMS would like to give a huge thank you to the Program Committee and their amazing work in making our most recent conference happen! Here are some statistics in relation to submissions from this year’s conference:

• Total Submissions: 247
• Total Submissions accepted: 167 total (119 lecture, 48 posters)

Great work!