Trends in Medical Mycology 4. Athens, Greece, October 18-21, 2009
July 14, 2008 – 08:33 — ECMM Website Editor
Trends in Medical Mycology (TIMM) is the bi-annual joint meeting of ECMM and EORTC. TIMM-4 was held in Athens, Greece, on October 18-21, 2009.
TIMM Webcast is provided as link at mconferences.com.
Congress Report
by Prof. Emmanuel Roilides
On October 18-21, 2009, the 4th Trends in Medical Mycology (joint meeting of ECMM and EORTC) took place in Athens, Greece.
Participation: 1115 delegates from 57 countries.
Local Organizers:
For ECMM: E. Roilides and M.C. Arendrup
For EORTC: J. Maertens and G. Petrikkos
One of the premier medical mycology congresses within Europe is the Trend in Medical Mycology conference (TIMM). TIMM has become one of the most important meetings in the field of fungal infections, a forum in which investigators and clinicians from all over the world exchange research results and opinions on medical practice. TIMM-4 is the fourth in the series of TIMM mycological international meetings organized jointly by the European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) and by the Infectious Diseases Group of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (IDG-EORTC). Previous TIMM’s were held in Amsterdam, Berlin and Turin. This time Athens was selected as venue of the meeting.
A very successful and varied programme took place on 18-21 October 2009. This was the largest TIMM so far with 1115 registered participants from 57 countries, demonstrating the increasing interest in medical mycology. The scientific programme included plenary sessions on fungal infections in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts led by an internationally renowned faculty giving a variety of plenary talks, round table sessions, and meet-the-expert meetings. The poster session encouraged one-to-one discussions between faculty, presenters and delegates. The meeting was designed for infectious disease specialists, haematologists, oncologists, transplant physicians, microbiologists, immunologists, dermatologists, intensivists and others with interest in medical mycology.
Well-known speakers discussed the most important advances in basic science and clinical research in mycology. Many new developments in all fields of medical mycology were represented. Medical mycologists, microbiologists and clinicians presented the results of their studies. Invited international opinion leaders gave many interesting lectures on a wide range of medical mycology topics, both old and new.
Dr. Thomas J. Walsh opened the Congress with The E. Drouhet Lecture entitled “Translational Research in Medical Mycology: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Life-Threatening Mycoses”.
A new prestigious lecture was established this year and this was The Ben de Pauw Lecture. This first lecture honoring Prof. de Pauw was given this year by Prof. Frank Odds with the title “Discovery and development of antifungal drugs: a reality check”. We observed, with great pleasure, a high participation of younger colleagues and four of them, having excellent posters to present, received the “ECMM Young Investigators Travel Award”. Furthermore, it was encouraging to see a record number of free papers and posters: there were 299 submitted contributions that covered all the aspect of mycology (molecular biology, microbiology, epidemiology, antifungal treatments, etc).
During the Congress various organisations and societies took the opportunity to hold committee meetings, seminars and working group discussions, including the ECMM Council meeting, the EORTC-ID general meeting, the ECMM Working Group on Candida and candidosis in the ICU, and a meeting of the ECMM Zygomycosis Working Group. These informal meetings gave the members of these various activity groups the possibility to participate in productive discussions on the results of on-going studies and to plan future programs.
Last but not least, the social and cultural activities were outstanding. Athens with its historical and cultural treasures throughout the downtown area and the surrounding region gave its own colour to the meeting. Acropolis with Parthenon, many other classical monuments and a great number of beautiful Byzantine churches as well as excellent museums including the newly opened marvelous Museum of Acropolis made the delegates’ experience unforgettable. Greece undoubtedly gave an irresistible background for this exciting scientific forum, providing not only a beautiful setting for a high powered meeting, but also a flavour of the Greek taste of life to all congress participants.