The 2008 International Melanoma Congress
For 2008, the 5th International Melanoma Research Congress will be conjoined with the International Pigment Cell Conference in Sapporo, Japan, May 7 – 12, 2008.
The 2007 International Melanoma Congress
The 4th International Melanoma Congress was held from November 1-4, 2007, in New York City. Everyone seemed to agree that it was a big success — although a bit crowded.
Interest in attending the meeting was high, but we were limited to 500 and did actually have 515 registrants from 39 countries. There was a strong attendance from post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty which is wonderful for the melanoma community. Most of the sessions were plenary, allowing all to attend.
Generous sponsors who helped to make the meeting a success were Bristol-Myers, Onyx, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Astra Zeneca, Progen and Synta. Boris Bastian was the Keynote Speaker on the opening evening.
The themes that ran through the Congress were focused on each stage of melanoma and the major questions asked: “why melanocytes develop into melanoma”, “why are melanomas so metastatic”, “why melanomas don't die”, “what went wrong in the wiring of melanoma” and “where are we headed – promising models and pathways and evolving therapies”. Minisymposia covered Immunobiology, Gene Expression and microRNA, Epidemiology and Prevention and Clinical Updates.
The presidency of the Society for Melanoma Research was handed off from Meenhard Herlyn, the founder of the Society, to David Fisher (photo below).
