The 19th World Congress of Dermatology, Sydney, Australia, June 15-21, 1997

EDrFORIAL The 19th World Congress of Dermatology, Sydney, Australia, June 15-21, 1997 Look Back! Look Around! Look Forward! From numerous indications it is becoming increasingly obvious that the 19th World Congress of Dermatology in Sydney this year is going to be an outstanding success (Figs. 1 and 2). A typical example came in June 1995 after the first round of invitations to almost 400 Chairs and Co-Chairs selected by the Program Committee of the International Committee of Dermatology. Within 4 weeks virtually all had replied to accept the invitation; this occurred despite the regulations of the International League c,f Dermatological Societies that prevent us from offering financial assistance to dermatologists invited to participate. Although the majority of the program has been completed, many persons have still been unable to be included. Consequently we are expanding the scientific program to accommodate the overwhelming number of requests we are receiving from those wishing to participate in one way or another. Why is this happening? What is it that appears to be attracting so many to come to Australia? Undoubtedly, Australia itself is a major attraction. Travel agencies throughout the world report that Australia is the number one priority on the list of countries selected by tourists wanting an overseas vacation. "I've always wanted to go to Australia" is a phrase used by virtually every one of the thousands of dermatologists who have come to the World Congress exhibits that have been at each of the major dermatology congresses in the past 3 years. Another attraction has to be the scientific program. TNs World Congress will be the last in the 20th century. The scientific program will stand as a permanent record of dermatologists' thoughts at this From the Department of Medicine (Dermatology), St Vincent's Hospital (Melbourne). Reprint requests: Robin Marks, University of Melbourne/Dept. of Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital (Melbourne), Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia. J Am Acad Dermatol 1997:36:131-2. Copyright © 1997 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. 0190-9622/97/$5.00 + 0 16/1/77604

time and will document the direction of dermatology in the 21st century, as perceived by dermatologists worldwide. The historic nature of this Congress has enhanced our ability to attract outstanding world scien~sts for our major Special Lectures; these include Professor Wemer Franke from the German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany, "Biology of Keratinocytes"; Professor Elaine Fuchs from the University of Chicago, '~Molecular Genetics of Blistering Skin Diseases": Professor Don Metca~ from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, "Granulocvte-Macrophage Colonystimulating Factors in Resistance to Infections"; Professor Rolf Zinkernagelo the 1996 Nobel Laureate in Medicine, from the Institute of Experh-nental Immunology, Zurich, Switzerland, °°Recognition of Self": and Professor Toshio Kuroki from the Institute of Medical Science atthe University of Tokyo, "Protein Kinase C-Mediated Signal Transduction and its Implication in Skin Carcinogenesis." In keeping with this historic theme, broader, more philosophical plenary lectures will be offered: these will look at where we have come in the past 100 years and will speculate on the furore of dermatology after the year 2000. Irwin Freedberg will predict the lasting breakthroughs in the 20th century from the vantage point of 100 years from now. Rona MacKie will take a broad view of the ways in which clinical and scientific practice and theory may affect our treatment of patients in the next century, gAa~ Wolff will ask~ "Will there be any role for prevention in the 21st century?", considering the sophisticated scientific and technological methods that are available for treatment of disease. What would an international congress be without Bernie Ackerman being provocative? In this case he asks a question broader than his usual ones on pathology: "Whither Dermatology?" In the last World Congress heldinNew York City, the three separate sections of posters, case presentations, and recent investigations in clinical and ex131

132

Marks

Fig. 1. The world-famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge on Sydney Harbour. perimental dermatology were poorly attended, which was disappointing for both presenters and organizers. For this reason we have combined and upgraded the free presentations to become a major part of the Congress. This change will allow persons who have new work to have it seen or heard by as many as possible. Anyone who sends an abstract that is accepted will be required to produce a poster. Of those, a few of the best will be selected for an oral presentation. These will be classified into topics and presented in different sessions. There will first be an overview of the area presented as a plenary talk and then short

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology January 1997

Fig. 2. Logo of the 19th World Congress of Dermatology, Sydney, Australia, June 15-21, 1997. oral presentations of the new work. An active chairman will comment on the presentations and encourage participation from both the presenters and the audience. W e are looking forward to these as the "fun" sessions of the World Congress. The work is going on. The stage is being set. Sydney in 1997 is ready to welcome dermatologists and other scientists for the last World Congress of Dermatology of the 20th century.

Robin Marks, MBBS, MPH, FRACP, FA CD Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia