An Invitation from the ASHG President and Program Committee Chair

March 2007

 

Dear Members of the American Society of Human Genetics and Annual Meeting Registrants:

The ASHG Program Committee and Board of Directors invite you to submit your abstracts and to attend the 57th Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. This year’s meeting will be held from Tuesday, October 23, through Saturday, October 27, 2007.

The Program Committee has developed a program that will provide the highest quality scientific and clinical information to address the needs of our diverse audience. The scientific program, one of the strongest in our history, will be highlighted by 14 superb invited scientific sessions. Highlights of the meeting include a special symposium on Friday evening, and, on Saturday, a session on Evolution and Medicine, and the Distinguished Speakers’ Symposium: the Bridge Between Research and Practice.

This year we will have two evenings without scientific sessions. On Wednesday evening, there will be a session for trainees interested in networking and learning more about the professional development process. On Saturday, a workshop will be available to help registrants learn more about the grants review process.

The Program Committee has worked to balance basic, translational, and clinical research with educational and social issues. The scientific sessions of invited speakers and contributed papers are relevant to clinicians diagnosing and characterizing birth defects and developmental disorders; to counselors informing and supporting patients and families about these disorders; to basic scientists deciphering the pathogenesis of Mendelian disorders; to geneticists dissecting contributions to complex traits; and the newest information on genome wide association studies; and to all of us translating the wealth of genomic information into function. In addition, updates on research will be highlighted for cardiovascular genetics, epigenetics, genomics, neurogenetics, pharmacogenetics, therapy for genetic disorders and stem cells.

The majority of the scientific program involves plenary, platform, and poster presentations by authors of abstracts. The Program Committee will again select abstracts from diverse disciplines to be grouped together in thematic, "cross-topic" sessions. ASHG members have found these sessions valuable, as they encourage interaction among the different specialties of our Society.
We continue to attract attendees from other professional societies who enhance scientific, educational, and social interactions within our Society. We encourage you to communicate your ideas and comments to ASHG and to share this Call for Abstracts/Meeting Information site with your nonmember colleagues. ASHG values the contributions of its members and we look forward to receiving your abstract and seeing you in San Diego!

Sincerely yours,

Elizabeth Hauser, PhD	Wylie Burke, MD, PhD
Chair, Program Committee	President, ASHG

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