By ISOQOL President Sandra Nolte, PhD

Dear ISOQOL Community,

I hope that everyone’s 2026 is off to a good start. As ISOQOL’s new President, I feel very honored and humbled to serve the Society for the next two years.

The past year has been a challenging one in many respects, both within our Society but also across the broader global context in which we work. At the same time, many of our members have found ways to make things work for themselves in the face of adversity. I will delve deeper into this topic further below. As we look ahead, I remain optimistic about what we can achieve together, particularly as we continue to seek ways to engage with our global network, thereby placing our priorities on choosing venues, formats, and spaces that are accessible to everyone.

Much of this optimism is grounded in the progress made through our 2024–2028 Strategic Plan.

Relevance

Ensuring ISOQOL’s Relevance depends on the strength and vibrancy of our scientific and professional programs. I would like to extend special thanks to several key leaders for their contributions this year.

First, I would like to recognize the editorial leadership of the Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes (JPRO) – Co-Editors-in-Chief Drs. Rasa Ruseckaite and Elizabeth Unni – and of Quality of Life Research (QLR) – Co-Editors-in-Chief Drs. Brittany Lapin and Jessica Roydhouse. Our journals are central to ISOQOL’s scientific mission and global impact, playing a vital role in disseminating high-quality research. Both JPRO and QLR currently have open calls for papers, with manuscript submissions due this summer. With topics on Advancing Equity through PROs, Translation and Validation of PROMs, PROs in Clinical Registries, PROMs in Telehealth, and QOL in people with mental disorders – beyond global scores, I encourage all members to consider contributing your work.

Turning to the 2025 Annual Conference, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our Program Co-Chairs, Drs. Kathryn Flynn and Elizabeth Tschosik, and to the broader planning and organizing teams, for delivering a high-quality, forward-looking conference under challenging circumstances.

Most importantly, some of our members were unable to travel to the in-person conference in Milwaukee. Offering a hybrid component to the 2025 annual conference, we enabled members to access and present virtual posters, tune in live to watch the plenary sessions, and connect online. The hybrid program included a virtual coffee with then President Josephine Norquist and myself, creating space for meaningful engagement with members who could not attend in person. ISOQOL remains deeply committed to connection and to our international community, and while we hope that our upcoming conference locations are less challenging to access than the one in 2025, we remain attentive to the needs of members who are unable to travel and continue virtual participation options in 2026.

In addition, and new to 2026, we have also expanded access to knowledge by making all past virtual symposia and select webinars complimentary member benefits. You can access the archives now by logging in to your ISOQOL member profile.

Given that 2025 presented unprecedented and unforeseen barriers for some of our members to attend our in-person event, they found other ways to connect. For example, Past President Josephine Norquist traveled to a regional conference in Canada, with me joining virtually, to engage with our Canadian members and show our continued support to our global community. We missed many of our Canadian friends in Milwaukee and look forward to reengaging in Prague in October this year.

Speaking of which, while October may seem distant, plans for our 33rd Annual Conference are well underway. We received an outstanding number of high-quality workshop and symposium proposals, which are currently undergoing peer review. In this context, I sincerely thank our conference co-chairs, Elizabeth Gibbons and Dr. Kate Absolom, for their leadership and vision in shaping this year’s conference theme. Stay tuned for oral and poster abstract submissions opening in March!

Engagement

The Engagement pillar of our Strategic Plan focuses on strengthening and supporting our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and other member groups – a cornerstone of our Society. The SIG Task Force, formed in 2024 to aid in the implementation of this Strategic Plan goal, is piloting new SIG formation policies and application processes in 2026. These changes aim to streamline governance and aid in member engagement and leadership pipeline development. Thank you to Task Force members Drs. Elizabeth Unni, Joanne Greenhalgh, Tolulope Sajobi, Amy Cizik, Richard Skolasky, and Emily Parks-Vernizzi for their work in developing these new policies.

The Task Force’s working groups are underway and are actively advancing goals to empower SIG leaders, support member interests and engagement, and provide clearer structure, tools, and guidance. In parallel, ISOQOL is in the early stages of researching new technology solutions for SIG communication, with the goal of replacing Teamwork and improving the member experience. Stay tuned, we are hoping to have some exciting news for you soon!

Impact

The Impact of ISOQOL is perhaps most visible through collaboration, whether between SIGs or with external partners. A few examples of SIG projects from 2025 include:

• Virtual Journal Sessions organized by the Mixed Methods SIG and held in April and September 2025, where authors highlighted their work.
• A collaboration between the New Investigators SIG and our journal editors to publish “Research trends among new investigators at ISOQOL: a bibliometric analysis from 2019 to 2023.” The SIG will also be hosting a virtual workshop on 18 February at 5:00 pm AEDT, covering peer-reviewing journal articles. Visit Teamwork for more information.
• A joint effort between the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) SIG and ISPOR’s Australia and New Zealand Chapters to organize the “Advancing Patient-Centred Research Down Under” conference, held in Sydney in December 2025.
• 5 SIG-led manuscripts published in JPRO, with more in various stages of completion.
• A collaboration between the Translation and Cultural Adaptation (TCA) SIG and the Critical Path Institute (C-Path) on the eCOA: Getting Better Together Initiative. Internal review of the deliverables is in process.

More recently in January of 2026, several of our SIGs worked together on and submitted a response to the EMA’s Request for Open Comments on the Patient Experience Data (PED) Reflection Paper. Congratulations to our Regulatory and Health Technology Assessment Engagement, Industry, Mixed Methods, New Investigators, Psychometrics, and Health Preference Research SIGs on this cross-collaboration.

Organizational Excellence

Aligning our programs with how members engage is a guiding priority for ensuring ISOQOL’s foundational Organizational Excellence.

One area of particular momentum has been our work to enhance our volunteer recruitment procedures and increase visibility. In recent years, ISOQOL has revamped the volunteer website and hosted a volunteer booth at the Annual Conference. These efforts are paying off. After reaching a low point in 2023, when we had 167 conference abstract reviewers, our reviewer pool grew substantially in 2025 to 263 volunteers. This remarkable increase reflects both improved systems and the generosity of members who stepped forward. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time and expertise!

In 2025, nomination and application procedures for the ISOQOL Board of Directors were also updated, making it easier to nominate colleagues and broadening pathways to leadership. Building on this success, the Annual Conference Chair Nominations Task Force used these principles as a framework to restructure the Annual Conference Committee and refine nomination, recruitment, and selection procedures. These changes are intended to increase transparency and reduce barriers to participation.

And attention, Board nominations will be announced soon for the term commencing in October 2026. We will be seeking three new Directors-at-Large and a President-Elect. Please consider nominating a colleague or throwing your own hat into the ring. We welcome nominations from diverse backgrounds.

As I reflect on these achievements, I am proud to serve ISOQOL. During my Presidency, I endeavor to make a positive impact on future choices for conference locations, support the SIGs and Regional Interest Groups (RIGs), as well as our hardworking SIG Task Force, opening pathways to new and existing collaborations, and supporting our membership where I can – together with my wonderful colleagues from the Executive Committee, the Directors-at-Large, and our fantastic staff at EDI who work tirelessly in the background, ensuring our Society is running smoothly. However, I am also mindful of the importance of listening to our members. If you have comments, ideas or requests, I encourage you to share your thoughts through our ISOQOL Listens form, which can be submitted anonymously, or feel free to drop me a personal note.

I look forward to the year ahead and to working with you all to advance the scientific study of health-related quality of life and other patient-centered outcomes.

Sincerely,