The American Society of Hematology’s 53rd Annual Meeting and Exposition will be held in San Diego, CA, December 10-13, 2011, one week later than in previous years. The densely packed four-day conference will expose attendees to some of the latest discoveries and clinical approaches in the hematologic field, offering numerous opportunities for professional development and networking. Advance registration and housing are now open, so be sure to make your reservations.

For your convenience, the Preliminary Program (in PDF format) and detailed session and scheduling information are available on the ASH website. This information will be updated in real time, so be sure to check the site for any changes to the program that may have occurred since the Preliminary Program went to press in July.

This year’s diverse program will include many special lectures. Peter Carmeliet, MD, PhD, will deliver the Ham-Wasserman Lecture, “Angiogenesis in Health and Disease,” to open this year’s meeting. Here he will discuss the fundamentals and medical relevance of angiogenesis and address original approaches and molecular drug targets aimed at tackling resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. George Q. Daley, MD, PhD, will present the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture, “Hematopoietic, Embryonic, and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Diseases, Myths, and Medicines,” which will explore the possibilities and obstacles surrounding the use of genetically modified human embryonic stem cells and personalized induced pluripotent cells derived from patients by somatic cell reprogramming. The Ernest Beutler Lecture, “Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML): A Success Story from Chromosomes to Effective Therapy,” will be delivered by Prize recipients Janet D. Rowley, MD, and Brian J. Druker, MD, and will highlight their achievements in CML research and treatment. New this year is the Special Symposium, chaired by Mary Cushman, MD, “Quality Indicators: Examples and Relevance to Hematology.” This session will focus on clinical areas of hematology for which quality indicators have been developed and are available, examining how such measures are derived and measured, and the importance of adhering to these standards. Guest speakers will include Richard A. Larson, MD, Richard H. White, MD, and Richard Lottenberg, MD. ASH will also present the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Society’s highest honor, to David G. Nathan, MD, for contributions to the field of hematology and his remarkable commitment to mentorship.

This year’s meeting will include a number of technological advances to assist you in organizing your schedule and retaining the flood of information you will receive. ASH will be introducing an annual meeting mobile application that will eliminate the need to carry around heavy printed materials by providing access to program and exhibitor information, maps, general information, and full text of the abstracts and Education Book articles from your mobile device. The “app” also provides a messaging capability to communicate with other attendees and allows users to add specific sessions to the calendar of their iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, or Google tablet. To help further lighten your load, you will have the option of receiving the abstracts on a flash drive instead of the printed book. Finally, as in past years, you can catch any of the Education Sessions (including Education Spotlight Sessions) and special lectures you might have missed through on-demand webcasts, and a collection of the Education Sessions will be available for purchase on DVD.

As is customary, ASH News Daily will also be available on site during the meeting with brief highlights of the previous day’s events, previews of upcoming presentations, and travel, dining, and sight-seeing tips to round out your stay in sunny San Diego. A new, mobile version of the publication will also be available. This year’s meeting promises to be a whirlwind event replete with educational, career-development, and networking opportunities. This December, let the beautiful San Diego skyline serve as a picturesque backdrop as you explore the latest hematologic breakthroughs with the world’s leading experts as they attempt to address the lasting questions in the field.

As a first-time attendee, you might be overwhelmed by the scope of the ASH annual meeting. With approximately 20,000 attendees and hundreds of sessions, posters, and exhibits – not to mention dozens of special receptions and events – planning your schedule can be a challenge.

The meeting sessions fall into two basic categories: the invited program and abstract-driven sessions. The invited program sessions are planned by the ASH Program Committee early in the year and feature the top experts in the field of hematology. They include the Education and Scientific Sessions, special lectures and symposia, Education Spotlight Sessions, Meet the Expert,

Special-Interest Sessions, and trainee sessions.

The abstract-driven sessions include the Plenary Scientific Session (oral presentations of the toprated abstracts), oral sessions (talks timed to occur simultaneously at 15-minute intervals to allow attendees to move back and forth between sessions to hear specific presentations of interest), and posters (visual presentations of abstracts that can be viewed throughout the day; presenters are available for informal Q&A during specific times). These presentations are selected by the Program Committee, through an extensive peer review process, from among thousands of abstracts submitted each year. Poster sessions are offered Saturday through Monday, while the oral abstract presentations kick off with the Plenary Scientific Session on Sunday and continue throughout the latter half of the meeting.

The general and special-interest sessions, which include named lectures and award presentations, are spread throughout the four days of the meeting. For more information, go to http://www.hematology.org/Meetings/Annual-Meeting/General/3749.aspx.

ASH offers a number of ways for you to stay connected with other attendees while you are at the meeting. The Message Center stations located at ASH Central provide a place for you to check email. In addition, free WiFi will be offered throughout the convention center. Users of the annual meeting mobile app can send messages through the app to other attendees (provided they have opted in). You can also follow ASH on Twitter (@ash_hematology) to get the latest news and announcements. Use hashtag #ASH11 to join the conversation about the meeting.

In addition to electronic communications, there are plenty of opportunities for in-person networking. ASH Central provides comfortable seating areas for informal meetings and conversation, while trainees are invited to visit the Trainee Lounge to relax and connect with their peers. Please also see the listing of receptions on the ASH website for other opportunities to interact with colleagues.

ASH offers a number of resources to help you plan your schedule.

  • The Online Program Planner allows you to search by key word, presenter, etc. to find the sessions you want to attend and build a personalized itinerary. This can be accessed prior to or during the meeting.

  • For mobile phone and tablet computer users, ASH is offering a mobile app for the first time this year that allows you to search for sessions and access the abstract text from your mobile device.

  • The Abstract Book, which contains the full text of all the presented abstracts, is now available on flash drive as well as in print. During the registration process, attendees are asked to indicate whether they want to receive a print copy of the book on site. All attendees will receive the abstracts on flash drive. The annual meeting abstracts will also be available online in early November.

  • The Program Book provided on site contains a detailed schedule as well as session descriptions. One thing to keep in mind when planning which sessions to attend is that some sessions are repeated (Education and Scientific Sessions) while a number of sessions are recorded and available via webcast or on DVD (available for purchase after the meeting). Please note that neither the Scientific Committee Sessions nor the abstract-driven sessions are recorded.