Welcome address

Dear colleagues and friends
We warmly invite you to participate in the Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for severe Autoimmune Diseases meeting which will take place in Florence on 19 and 20 November 2009.

The decision to call a meeting on this issue was made after having received many requests to hold a meeting covering all the aspects of cellular therapy for Autoimmune Diseases. In particular, we feel that the field of biological drugs and the accumulation of new data concerning the mechanistic aspects of HSCT, are dramatically evolving. A stimulating scientific programme has been prepared, bringing together leading experts from around the world to address both the clinical and immunological aspects of autoimmune diseases. Five separate groups of experts have been formed to hold panel discussions on the future developments of the individual diseases (MS, SLE, SSc, Crohn and Cytopenias) and they will then report back to all participants at the meeting. The multi-disciplinary character of the meeting is reflected in the large number of specialists who will be presenting their data; indeed the meeting is open to specialists as well as to transplanters and nurses. We hope to have included topics that will meet a wide range of interests and that will encourage your active participation.

The city of Florence reveals an exceptional cultural heritage, which provides us with the opportunity to organise a meeting that combines medical issues with an extraordinary blend of European traditions and artistic calibre. The meeting venue itself is centrally situated in one of the most beautiful and important architectural buildings of the Renaissance period, the Ospedale degli Innocenti, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1419.

We hope that this will enable attendees to enjoy both the meeting and this fascinating city, and to have both a scientifically rewarding and culturally interesting two days in Florence.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the EBMT, GITMO and the NIH for their support of this meeting.

We are looking forward to hosting the meeting and to welcoming you to Florence in November 2009!

Riccardo Saccardi
Chair AD Florence 2009,
on behalf of the Scientific Committee and on behalf of the EBMT Autoimmune Diseases Working Party

The European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
AD Florence Scientific Secretariat: info@adflorence.org - FIMO Organising Secretariat : fimo-srl@fimo.biz

• welcome address
• important information
• scientific programme
• registration
• call for abstracts
• hotel accommodation
• speakers & authors
• sponsorship & exhibitors
• general information

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