ISMR
History

In the late 1980’s John Beumer III, Director of Maxillofacial Prosthetics UCLA, Los Angeles, California, Ian M. Zlotolow, Director of Dental Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York and Salvatore J. Esposito, Director of Maxillofacial Prosthetics at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio met and decided to conduct an international symposium devoted to the art and science of maxillofacial prosthetics. Seed money for this initial meeting was provided by their respective institutions and by the Borchard Foundation. More than 400 individuals from more than 30 countries attended this initial conference. The funds contributed by the Borchard Foundation were used to support the travel and lodging expenses of 30 professionals from underdeveloped countries.

The meeting was so successful and well attended that Beumer, Zlotolow and Esposito formed an international organization devoted to maxillofacial rehabilitation. They decided to conduct the meetings every two years and to rotate them between North America, Europe and Asia. The International Congress of Maxillofacial Prosthetics was then established and incorporated in October of 1996.

As the organization developed, it was understood that professional groups other than prosthodontists contributing to head and neck related care wished to participate in the organization. In recognizing this and the need to create an international organization that brought a diversity of professional groups together, the organization was renamed the International Society for Maxillofacial Rehabilitation (ISMR) on January 7th, 2002. In 2008 it was decided that the ISMR needed to be completely restructured to reflect and embrace the interdisciplinary nature of head and neck related care. The restructuring also needed to address development of a future-oriented organization that actively engaged involvement of the best young minds for the future. The decision was also made that, as a fundamental principle, these best young minds from maxillofacial prosthodontics, speech language pathology, nutrition, head and neck oncology and reconstructive surgery needed to be actively engaged in the operation of the ISMR.

The ISMR interest is in maxillofacial reconstruction and rehabilitation. This interest is not restrictive and relates, in broad fashion, to head and neck education, patient care, outreach and research. The ISMR membership is drawn from the international clinical and research community that has an interest in head and neck related care. The mission of the ISMR is “Advancing Head & Neck – Maxillofacial Rehabilitation Together”. The fundamental purpose of this mission is to improve reconstructive and rehabilitative maxillofacial care with the aim of improving the quality of life of individuals needing care. Based on its three tenets of Leadership, Education and Outreach the ISMR delivers this mission through bringing support to professionals involved in care, teaching and research. The ISMR is structured to be a fully interdisciplinary organization that recognizes the importance of diverse clinical and research disciplines embracing interdependency in their respective roles. The ISMR is an inclusive organization that places particular value on mutual respect of diverse disciplines in delivering excellence in education, research, patient care, and outreach.

ISMR Past Presidents

Immediate Past President
2016
Dr. Dale Howes
University of Witwatersrand
Department of Oral Rehabilitation
Professor (Adj)
PO Box 653092;
Benmore;
Johannesburg, Gauteng South Africa 2010

2015 Harry Reintsema, DDS, PhD
2014
Harry Reintsema, DDS, PhD & Yimin Zhao, PhD, Professor
2013 Harry Reintsema, DDS, PhD
2012 Johan Wolfaardt, BDS, PhD
2010 David J. Reisberg, DDS
2008 David J. Reisberg, DDS
2006 John Beumer III, DDS, MS
2004 John Beumer III, DDS, MS & Robert van Oort, DDS, PhD
2002 Ian Zlotolow. DMD & Takashi Ohyama, DDS, PhD
2000
Ian Zlotolow. DMD & Salvatore Esposito, DMD
1998 Giulio Preti, DDS, MD, PhD & John Beumer III, DDS, MS
1996
Kwang Nam Kim, DDS, PhD & Salvatore Esposito, DMD
1994
Salvatore Esposito, DMD


John Beumer III


Ian M. Zlotolow


Salvatore J. Esposito