By Ann Taylor and Laura Pease

Approximately 65 ARCS members and their guests came together for our Annual Membership and Board Meeting on May 3, 2023 at the Piedmont Driving Club.  We were delighted that two of our university first ladies attended, honorary ARCS member Beth Cabrera of Georgia Tech and Carmel Fenves of Emory.

Our distinguished speaker Dr. Anant Madabhushi from Emory University School of Medicine is a global leader in developing artificial intelligence to improve outcomes for individuals with cancer and other diseases. 

Dr. Madabhushi discussed how he is working to establish a center of excellence at Emory to develop, deploy and scale artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine.  He highlighted how various cancers are overtreated resulting in patients being subjected to the harsh effects of chemotherapy when surgery and/or hormone treatment could be sufficient.  His team is analyzing digitized cancer tissue samples to find patterns in the cell architecture.  These patterns indicate which type of treatment is best for the stage of disease progression.  Compared to other tissue diagnostic approaches, this approach is affordable, globally accessible, adaptable across different diseases and populations and most importantly results in better outcomes for patients.  While this research is not yet that widespread, Emory is leading in this field with expectations of results being part of the medical treatment process in the next several years.  A fascinating discussion!

After our speaker, we moved to the Board Meeting chaired by President Sara Jean Burke.  A highlight of the meeting was the recognition of Jeanne Berry’s 90^th birthday.  Her daughter Marie Berry attended, and all joined in singing “Happy Birthday.”  To commemorate Jeanne’s special birthday, donations are being raised to fund an ARCS scholar in Jeanne’s name for 2023.  Each board member gave an update on their area of responsibility.  It was then time for Sara Jean to pass the President’s gavel to Carolynn Cooper.  A special thanks to Sara Jean for stepping into the President’s role this past year!  We should all remember Sara Jean’s quote “volunteers are not paid because they are worthless - but because they are priceless!”

Incoming President Carolynn Cooper with Past President Sara Jean Burke	Jeanne Berry with daughter Marie