WELCOME to the Tenth International Workshop on Autoantibodies and Autoimmunity. This workshop series is held every 2 – 3 years as an international gathering of academics and industry scientists with common interest in research on autoantibodies, autoimmunity, and molecular and cell biology. Previous conferences were held in Heidelberg, Germany (1989), San Diego, California (1991), Schloβ Elmau, Germany (1993), Melbourne, Australia (1995), Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1997), Oslo, Norway (1999), Awajishima, Japan (2001), Berlin, Germany (2003), and Gainesville, Florida (2005).This symposium is dedicated to the dissemination of the latest advances in autoantibody and autoimmunity research as it pertains to autoimmune and neoplastic diseases. Invited speakers represent a broad range of disciplines and research areas. A significant proportion of oral presentations were chosen from submitted abstracts. We encouraged you to attend the poster sessions on Friday and Saturday and also visit the corporate exhibits. I am glad that you have taken part of your time to attend this conference to continue with the tradition of this IWAA meeting that started in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1989. The first workshop was co-founded by Dr. Eng M. Tan, with Professor Ekkehard K.F. Bautz, former head of the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Heidelberg, Professor J.R. Kalden from Erlangen, and the late Professor Mitsuo Homma of Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. The concept of this workshop was developed while Dr. Tan was taking mini-sabaticals in Heidelberg with Dr. Bautz to fulfill in part the requirements in receiving the Senior Distinguished U.S. Scientist Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1986. As in previous workshops we have been very fortunate to have the generous support of our corporate and non-profit sponsors and we would like to acknowledge their contribution – click on the left at the sponsor’s link for a complete listing.We have great pleasure in welcoming you to Guadalajara for this workshop and we trust that you will enjoy and benefit from both the scientific and social networking experience. Guadalajara is the state capital of Jalisco and is the second largest city in Mexico. It is located in the western part of the country and if your travel plans permit, be sure to visit the many attractions that you will find in the city and also in small colonial towns near Guadalajara, like san Pedro Tlaquepaque. Information about post-conference activities is available at the registration desk. Ignacio Garcia-De La Torre Organizer 10th IWAA |
