The XV International Symposium on Amyloidosis took place in Uppsala, Sweden 3–7 July 2017. Venue was Uppsala Concert and Congress, situated in the centre of the City. The symposium attracted no less than 582 registered participants from most parts of the world. Not only researchers, students and clinicians participated but also representatives of pharmacy and of several patient organizations. The symposium itself contained one introductory lecture covering the whole field, 12 keynote lectures and 67 other oral presentations. In addition, five discussion or debate sessions were organized: “Pathways for ATTR amyloid formation”; “Treatment of AL amyloidosis: Stem cell transplantation or chemotherapy for frontline treatment of AL?”; “Suitable methodology for treatment evaluation”; “Experimental animal models”; and “ThT assay pitfalls – can the method be standardized?”. No less than 347 posters were presented, divided up in three full days. Since poster exhibitions were situated close to lunch and coffee areas, there were good opportunities to discuss each poster. A wide variety of scientific problems were covered, from molecules and protein conformation to new therapies. Since amyloidosis is not an entirely human problem, also presentations on amyloidosis in animals were given.
In addition to the symposium proper, there were four satellite symposia, organized by different pharmaceutical companies. These symposia, one to one and a half hour long, were highly appreciated and showed that progression in the treatment of amyloidosis is advancing and that patient benefit from our research.
The welcome party took place in the orangery in the Botanical Garden, founded by Olof Rudbeck in 1664. The orangery was built after an initiative by Carl von Linné’s disciple, Carl Peter Thunberg, Professor of Botany at Uppsala University. The gala dinner took place at Uppsala Castle, in “Rikssalen” from which a number of historical events are known, e.g. the resign of Queen Kristina, daughter of King Gustav Adolf II. After resigning Kristina moved to Rome and converted into Catholicism. At the dinner party, we were visited by Carl von Linné who told us about his life and achievements and how he had sent out his disciples around the world.
The amyloid field has grown immensely over the years. It is impossible to cover all aspects on amyloid and amyloid-related diseases. It is natural that the international symposia on amyloidosis gradually have become more and more focused on aspects on systemic amyloidoses which also have developed into a very complex field. During the meeting the number of proteins shown to give rise to systemic amyloidosis increased to 16. But the symposium was not entirely focused on systemic amyloidosis. Also some localized forms were discussed.
All the participants, who presented their research at the symposium, were invited to present their contributions as extended abstracts. We are therefore happy to able to publish 91 papers in this supplement of our journal AMYLOID that will give the reader a comprehensive overview on the scientific content of the meeting.
Given the complexity of amyloid and amyloidoses, a symposium covering so many subjects have to extend over several days. This kind of event would be impossible to arrange without generous sponsorship. We are extremely grateful to the different companies for the support which made it possible to arrange the meeting. We also thank the Scientific Advisory Board for help with the program and the staff at Akademikonferens and Uppsala Concert & Congress for professional arrangements.
Uppsala and Umeå, March 2017 Gunilla T. Westermark, President of the Symposium, Ole B. Suhr, and Per Westermark
Platinum sponsor
Alnylam
Pfizer
Gold sponsor
Auven Therapeutics
Bellus Health
Prothena
Silver sponsor
GSK
Bronze sponsor
Ionis Pharmaceuticals
Additional sponsors
Amyloidosis Research Consortium
Ebba Biotech
Taylor & Francis
The Binding Site Group
International Society of Amyloidosis Board, 2016
Bouke P.C. Hazenberg, President, Groningen, Netherlands
Merrill D. Benson, Immediate past President, Indianapolis, USA
Angela Dispenzieri, Vice president, Boston, USA
Lawreen H. Connors, Secretary, Boston, USA
Steven Zeldenrust, Treasurer, Rochester, USA
Per Westermark, Editor-in Chief of Amyloid, Uppsala, Sweden
Yukio Ando, Member-at-Large, Kumamoto, Japan
Vaishali Sanchorawala, Member-at-Large, Boston, USA
Gunilla T. Westermark, Member-at-Large, Uppsala, Sweden
Scientific Advisory Board
David Adams, Paris, France
Yukio Ando, Kumamoto, Japan
Merrill D. Benson, Indianapolis, USA
Joel N. Buxbaum, La Jolla, USA
Teresa Coelho, Porto, Portugal
Raymond L. Comenzo, Boston, USA
Lawreen H. Connors, Boston, USA
Marcia W. Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Thibaud Damy, Paris, France
Christopher M. Dobson, Cambridge, UK
Angela Dispenzieri, Rochester, USA
David Eisenberg, Los Angeles, USA
Bo-Göran Ericzon, Stockholm, Sweden
Marcus Fändrich, Ulm, Germany
Morie A. Gertz, Rochester, USA
Philip N. Hawkins, London, UK
Bouke P.C. Hazenberg, Groningen, Netherlands
Ute Hegenbart, Heidelberg, Germany
Keiichi Higuchi, Matsumoto, Japan
Arnaud Jaccard, Limoges, France
Jan Johansson, Stockholm, Sweden
Jeffery W. Kelly, La Jolla, USA
Robert Kisilevsky, Ontario, Canada
Robert A. Kyle, Rochester, USA
Barbara Kluve-Beckerman, Indianapolis, USA
Reinhold P. Linke, Martinsreid, Germany
Giampaolo Merlini, Pavia, Italy
Laura Obici, Pavia, Italy
Sir Mark B. Pepys, London, UK
Maria M. Picken, Chicago, USA
Vaishali Sanchorawala, Boston, USA
Maria J. Saraiva, Porto, Portugal
Stephan Schönland, Heidelberg, Germany
Yoshiki Sekijima, Matsumoto, Japan
Jean D. Sipe, Boston, USA
Martha Skinner, Boston, USA
Arie Stangou, Birmingham, UK
Steven Zeldenrust, Rochester, USA
Acknowledgements
The organizing committee of the XVth International Symposium on Amyloidosis is grateful to the following sponsors whose generous contributions made the Symposium possible: