June 2026

Dear SOAP Community,

As I write my final President’s Message for SOAP Stats, I do so with deep gratitude and pride in what our society has accomplished together.

This has been a year of tremendous energy, growth, and alignment for SOAP. Our 2026 Annual Meeting in Montreal brought our community together around science, education, collaboration, and friendship, and the recent Virtual Highlights event extended that learning to even more members. Across SOAP, our committees have advanced meaningful work in education, research, diversity and inclusivity, intersociety collaboration, member value, governance, finance, and our growing Centers of Excellence program. These achievements reflect the strength of a society that is powered by its members.

I want to thank every SOAP member who contributed this year—as a speaker, reviewer, mentor, committee member, SIG participant, researcher, educator, donor, learner, or advocate for safer and more equitable obstetric anesthesia care. SOAP’s impact is built through this collective work, and it has been a privilege to see that commitment in action.

I am especially grateful to the SOAP Board of Directors, Executive Committee, committee and subcommittee chairs, SOAP headquarters, and all of our volunteer leaders. Your wisdom, generosity, and steady commitment have strengthened the society and positioned SOAP for continued success. Leadership in a professional society is never the work of one person; it is the product of shared purpose, thoughtful debate, and a willingness to keep moving important work forward.

Serving as President of SOAP has been one of the great honors of my professional life. Thank you for the trust, support, and encouragement you have given me throughout this year. I am excited for SOAP’s next chapter and confident that our society will continue to lead with excellence, innovation, and community as we advance our mission to improve the care of pregnant people and newborns everywhere.

Ron George, MD, FRCP
President, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology

BOARD STATS 

• To date, there are 51 SOAP State Representatives, and we continue to work towards securing a representative from each state.  SOAP State Representatives will provide a key contact in each state to help us reach a broader audience, as SOAP strives to meet its mission to provide safe and equitable care for women and newborns everywhere. If you know someone who is interested in becoming a SOAP State Representative, please contact SOAP HQ.  
• State Rep program – interactive map on website showing reps and MMRC.

COMMITTEE STATS 

Annual Meeting and Live Events Committee 

• Thank you to all who came to the 2026 SOAP Annual Meeting that was held April 29 - May 3, 2026 at Le Westin Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• View the honorees
• View pictures
• View the photos from Party with a Purpose!
• The Annual Meeting Virtual Highlights event was hosted on June 8 & 9 and leveraged a curated offering of popular recorded content from the in-person Annual Meeting event plus new, original content.
• Registrants can view the recordings in the SOAP Learning Center.

Education Committee

• View the latest episode of the Painless Push Podcast: Postpartum Pain
• Teacher of the Year Award (More than 10 Years): Pervez Sultan, MD, FRCA, MbChB - Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
• Teacher of the Year Award (Less than 10 Years): Sharon Reale, MD - Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Diversity Committee 

• Diversity & Inclusivity Award: Kokila Thenuwara, MD - University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
• Diversity & Inclusivity Mentored Grant:
• Kyeisha Laurence, BS & Bushra Taha, MD- Harvard University
• Caroline Thomas, MD & Paloma Toledo, MD, MPH, FASA - University of Chicago & University of Miami

Governance Committee 

• Terms for committees began January 1 and end on December 31.

Intersociety Committee  

• SOAP/Kybele International Outreach Grant:
• Cassandra Poirier - University of British Columbia
• Elana Kreiger-Benson, MD - Brigham & Women's Hospital
• New COE Designees:
  • Danbury Hospital - Danbury, CT, USA
  • Emory University at Grady Memorial Hospital - Atlanta, GA, USA
  • Emory University Hospital Midtown - Atlanta, GA, USA
  • Lenox Hill Hospital - New York, NY, USA
  • Pavilion for Women Texas Children's Hospital Won's Center North Austin - Cedar Park, TX, USA
  • Saint Mark's Hospital - Millcreek, UT, USA
  • San Giovanni Hospital - EOC Switzerland - Bellinzona, Canton Ticina, Switzerland
  • University of California, Irvine - Orange, CA, USA
  • Wexford Hospital, Allegheny Health Network - Wexford, PA, USA
• COE Recertifications – designation originally granted in 2021:
  • Baylor College of Medicine – Houston, TX, USA
  • Kitasato University Hospital – Sagamihara City, Kanagawa, Japan
  • Memorial Hermann Hospital – Texas Medical Center – Houston, TX, USA
  • Parkland Hospital Center – UT Southwestern – Dallas, TX, USA
  • Pro Matre Paulista – Groupo Santa Joana – Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • University of Colorado – Aurora, CO, USA

Member Value Committee 

• Mentoring Excellence Award - Daniel Katz, MD - Mount Sinai Hospital/Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
• Complete the member needs assessment
• Join one of the fifteen Special Interest Groups. To see a full list of the Special Interest Groups visit the SOAP website. 

Research Committee  

• Journal Club Classic was held Wednesday, June 10 at 3pm EST. Hosted by Dr. Jordan Francke, featuring Drs. James O’Carroll and Daniel Conti, Dr. Christine Ha presented, “Incidence of Pain During Cesarean Delivery with Neuraxial Anesthesia: An International Prospective Cohort Study.”
• Research Network Symposium was held in conjunction with the 2026 SOAP Annual Meeting in Montreal on Friday, May 1 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm EST at Le Westin Montreal Hotel.
• View the proposals
• Gertie Marx Research Competition
  • First Place: Payton Marshall, MD, PhD – Stanford University
  • Second Place: Lily Y. Bai – Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Third Place: Susannah Oster, BS – Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Best Research Paper Competition
  • Anuradha Baishnob, HBSc – University of Toronto
• Best Case Reports Competition
• Jace R. Battrell, MD, MSMP - Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
• Daniel F. Berenson, MD, PhD - Mass General Brigham
• Manuel A. Fierro, MD - Stanford University School of Medicine
• Spencer Hansen - George Washington University
• Fatine Karkri, MD - Stanford University School of Medicine
• Momoko Kobayashi - Saitama Medical Center
• Eliezer Mendelev, MD - The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
• Allison Mootz, MD - UT Southwestern Medical Center
• Makela Stankey, MD - Stanford Health Care
• Lucas Steele, MD - The Ohio State University

• Combined net assets for SOAP and the SOAP Endowment were $6.7M as of April 31, 2025

SOAP Headquarters 

• Download the SOAP Educational App!
• Log into the SOAP Community! We’re happy to invite you to join the official SOAP online community platform at TradeWing! The platform has many of the features members requested.  
• Add [email protected] to your safe sender's list so you can receive announcements from SOAP Community. 
• View the full list of features and frequently asked questions.