An Invitation to the 5th Annual ASGT Meeting: June 5–9, 2002, Boston, Massachusetts
Authors: Malcolm K. Brenner
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2002)

This year's ASGT meeting promises to be bigger—and we hope even better—than our previous four. We have received a record number of abstracts (over 1300) and I believe that this, together with our exciting and restructured program and our outstanding list of speakers, will ensure that the 5th Annual Meeting will be particularly enjoyable and instructive. We will begin with our Educational Session on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 5. This will include presentations on vectorology, immunology, genomics, and gene transfer to specific tissues, as well as sessions on stem cells, FDA Regulations, and NIH grantsmanship. The Scientific Sessions begin the next day and consist of three major components: Symposia, Workshops, and Abstract Presentations. The simultaneous Symposia have been developed by each of the Society's subcommittees, who selected both the topics and the speakers. Each subcommittee has also planned one to two Workshops. These are more focused discussions of detailed, often practical, topics based around five or six short talks followed by a 30–45 minute panel and audience discussion. This year, our oral presentations of submitted abstracts have been organized so that they stand alone and do not compete with either workshops or symposia. We also have two Plenary Lectures: The George Stamatoyannopoulos Lecture to be given by Irving Weissman on stem cells, and the Presidential Symposium Lecture to be delivered by Eric Lander, “Beyond the Human Genome.” In addition, we have retained and expanded our popular “Meet the Expert” luncheons, which now take place on all three days of the meeting. Finally there will be Corporate symposia on topics that we believe will be of general interest to the membership. Because we have reduced the number of simultaneous symposia/workshops from previous years, it is inevitable that we will be unable to cover every topic in the detail that every member would like. However, we have asked the subcommittees to identify those areas which they believe to be most relevant for the current year, and I am pleased that Joe Glorioso, President-Elect, and Don Kohn, the Vice-President, have agreed that we will ensure that every relevant topic is covered over a maximum of a three-year period. Although the Program Committee had more input from the scientific subcommittees than in previous years, I freely admit to having allowed my own interests in stem cell therapy to influence the content of the meeting. Fortunately, given the enormous public and scientific interest in the field, and given that genetic manipulation of stem cells will critical for ensuring their widest application, I feel that my obsession no longer needs defending! Finally, I am delighted to confirm that Savio Woo has again agreed to organize the comprehensive review course in clinical gene transfer immediately before the meeting on June 4 and 5. This was an extremely successful and popular event last year. If our Society is to have a unique identity, it must revolve around the interest of our members in the ultimate clinical application of our work. This training course is a critical educational tool that will help us move our work from mouse to human. Registration materials and further information are available on the Society's web site (http://www.asgt.org). I look forward to seeing you all in Boston.