EBMT 2008 - Annual Congress

Introduction – Congratulations to the Local Organising Committee

The EBMT 2008 Annual Meeting which took place at the end of March has been hailed a huge success. The meeting brought together 4713 professionals from across the world to the Fortezza da Basso in the beautiful renaissance city of Florence to discuss, share and collaborate with their ideas, scientific knowledge and experience in clinical practice. EBMT is extremely proud to announce that the number of registrations this year rose by 1095 ( > 30%) as compared with EBMT 2007.

The plethora of stimulating Workshops, Educational, Plenary, Working Party, Oral , Poster and Joint Sessions which constituted this year’s comprehensive scientific programme were triumphant in attracting 3981 physicians, 698 Nurses and 124 Data managers. Congratulations go to the Local & National Scientific Committee, the NG Board & Scientific Committee and the Data Management Group for the fine programme balance and the selection of high calibre speakers on which the success of the meeting depended and to whom we owe our sincere thanks.

The EBMT annual meeting is the culmination of all the hard work that goes on throughout the year in the collection of data, management of studies, clinical trials, accreditation actvities etc. Thanks and recognition for all of this work is due to the EBMT staff, as well as the countless number of Working Party and EBMT Committee members who contribute a vast number of hours of their free time to advancing the activities of the Society.

The 53 industry partners and 8 non-profit organisations which availed of the opportunity to display their products, services and contributions to the HSCT field in the exhibition hall were extremely well received and tirelessly visited by delegates. The full programme of Corporate Satellite Symposia on Sunday 30th March was also very well attended and appreciated by delegates.

Another important success story from Florence was the 2nd EBMT Patient and Family Day held in the Palazzo degli Affari, a stone’s throw from the main meeting venue. 503 patients and their family members attended the informative plenary sessions and workshops chaired by leading physicians, nurses and other experts in the field. Simultaneous translation from English to Italian transcended language barriers and the post event get-together allowed patients, families, physicians and nurses to talk informally, further enabling the exchange of information.

The carefully crafted social programme opened with local Tuscan fare accompanied by Florentine musicians, flag throwers and trumpeters. The world-class Coro del Duomo enthralled and delighted guests at the Sant Michele and San Gaetano Church on Monday evening, and the exquisite Gala Dinner hosted in the grand setting of the Palazzo Corsini overlooking the majestic Arno river brought a fine close to the meeting and received magnificent reviews from diners.

Of course, none of this could have been possible without the huge amount of planning, care, attention to detail, in-house knowledge and excellent taste of the EBMT 2008 Local Organising Committee. The EBMT would like to congratulate Alberto Bosi - Congress President, Riccardo Saccardi- Scientific Chair, Lara Cox and Eleonora Garosi- Organising Secretariat, Letizia Galgano and Simona Calza- Local Nurse and Rosi Oneto and Barbara Bruno - Local Data Managers, for their unshakeable support and dedication in making EBMT 2008 an enormous accomplishment, and of course, for making the sun shine from beginning to end!

Thanks also go of course to AKM and the local agency, FIMO, for their tireless work behind the scenes and their professional approach throughout.