Meeting Report of the 34th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Surgical Research: Summary of Presentations, Labs, and Workshops, Focusing on Experimental Surgery, Charleston, SC, September 26–28, 2018

The 34th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Surgical Research was held from September 26–28, 2018 in Charleston, South Carolina. The Academy’s community joins together at the annual meeting to promote and advance professional and academic standards, education, and research related to the art and science of experimental surgery. Over 150 participants from 26 different states and 4 countries attended and reflected the diverse membership of technicians, veterinarians, medical doctors, and biomedical researchers and broad network between industry and academia. Presentations included 4 invited keynote speakers and together with breakout and poster sessions. These tracks were complimented with practical courses that included wet labs for participants to practice hands-on surgical technique and dry lab workshops covering surgical anesthesia as well as proper study design and path to publication. In addition, social activities helped attendees to connect with potential mentors and collaborators at the meeting. We present the highlights from this meeting in this report together with selected abstracts that illustrate the diverse scientific expertise of the Academy and promising new surgical research.