Next October will bring to Bethesda MD a gathering of some of the "best minds" in pheochromocytoma. The First International Symposium on Pheochromocytoma will be held.

Several members from the Pheochromocytoma Support Board and Pheochromocytoma Organization will represent our group at this symposium, and give a presentation on what our group has to offer in the form of information and support. Organizers of this symposium are looking for some patients who would be willing to share some of their stories. In particular we are looking for the following: Persons with malignant pheochromocytoma, Parents of children with pheochromocytoma, and those who have genetic pheochromocytoma. If there are any members who may be interested in speaking at this symposium from our group please contact Debra Harlander at dharlander@twcny.rr.com or Mary Peebels at ThreePeb@aol.com

Another important part of the symposium for patients will be to try to answer some questions. We would like to compile a list of questions about pheo to pose to the panels from patients. Please feel free to email these to us at the email addresses shown above.

The cost to attend the symposium has not been set as of yet, but when that information becomes available we will post it here. Please see below for information directly from the PRESSOR website (used with permission) about this exciting symposium.

ISP2005 — First International Symposium on Pheochromocytoma

Goals
The Symposium will provide an international forum for bringing together for the first time a significant number of investigators, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals from around the world, all with a common interest in pheochromocytoma. This will facilitate the forging of new and improved collaborations, inter-disciplinary studies, and concerted, comprehensive approaches to resolving the outstanding scientific and medical problems associated with pheochromocytoma. The Symposium will also provide a forum for patients to strengthen their support groups and improve awareness and understanding of the tumor and associated conditions by all involved parties, including those responsible for setting research priorities and funding decisions.

Format
The Symposium will be held over two and half days, the first two days dedicated to oral scientific presentations on several themes in 8 sessions. There will be poster sessions in the evenings and the symposium will have a strong social format to encourage informal meetings and discussions. Patient support group representatives will provide presentations about their organization and what they and their members see as pressing issues requiring assistance from the research and medical communities. The last half-day will be dedicated to moderator-led discussions about future directions of research, proposals for multicenter interdisciplinary studies, how to improve funding and support for research on the tumor, and business of the Pheochromocytoma Research Support Organization (PRESSOR), including the venue and organizers for a subsequent international meeting.

Topics
Topics covered in the symposium include:

• Genetics

• Pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma syndromes

• Molecular pathways of tumorigenesis

• Genotype-phenotype relationships

• Clinical presentation and differential diagnosis

• Biochemical diagnosis

• Tumor localization

• Management of pheochromocytoma

• Model systems

• Diagnostic and prognostic markers of malignancy

• Treatment of malignant pheochromcytoma

• Patient support

Emphasis will be on selection of oral presentations of new and important unpublished findings. For the most part, oral presentations of 10-15 minutes duration (with 5 minutes for questions) will be selected from submitted abstracts. Where appropriate, sessions may also include invited overviews of the subject area from authorities in the field or moderator-led discussions from panelists and the audience.

ISP 2005 Organizers
• Karel Pacak - President			• Graeme Eisenhofer - Secretary General

ISP 2005 Local Organizing Committee
• Karen T Adams - NICHD, NIH			• Fredereike Brouwers - NICHD, NIH
• Graeme Eisenhofer - NINDS, NIH			• Abdel G Elkahloun - NICHD, NIH
• David S Goldstein - NINDS, NIH			• Stephen C Groft - ORD, NIH
• Karel Pacak - NICHD, NIH			• Giovanna Spinella - ORD, NIH
• MacClellan M Walther - NCI, NIH

ISP 2005 International Organizing Committee
• Håkan Ahlman - Sweden			• Diana Benn - Australia
• Stefan Bornstein - Germany			• Patricia Dahia - USA
• Ronald De Krijger - Netherlands			• Paul A Fitzgerald - California
• Thomas J Giordano - USA			• Ashley B Grossman - UK
• Anna A Kasperlik-Zaluska - Poland			• Noriko Kimura - Japan
• Otto Kuchel - Canada			• Hendrik Lehnert - Germany
• Jacques WM Lenders - Netherlands			• William M Manger - USA
• Massimo Mannelli - Italy			• Hartmut PH Neumann - Germany
• Pierre-François Plouin - France			• Barry L Shulkin - USA
• Arthur Tischler - USA			• Sergio P Toledo - Brazil
• William F Young Jr - USA

Support

The organizers gratefully acknowledge pledges of support from the following organizations, institutions, and companies:

• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

• National Cancer Institute, NIH

If your organization or company is interested in contributing to or supporting the meeting, please contact a member of the International Organizing Committee.

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