2016 IPPA Advanced Course

15th to 21st October 2016

Món Sant Benet Hotel & Conference Centre

Barcelona, Spain

Dear friends and colleagues,

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, it is our great pleasure to welcome you to Catalonia, Spain and the XXXVIII IPPA Advanced Course in Paediatric Pathology. The meeting will be held from the 15^thtill 21^st of October, 2016, in MónSant Benet (Sant Fruitós de Bages). Monastery of Sant Benet was built in 960 A.C. by the Order of Saint Benedict. This is a historical place located 70km/ 43 miles away from Barcelona airport.

Catalonia is located in the north east part of Spain. The creation of Catalonia took place during the Reconquest (the expulsion of the Arabs at the Iberian Peninsula) in the 9th Century A.C. Catalonia has a very rich heritage, including its national Catalan language, music, art and food!

The Course has been designed to provide an innovative and comprehensive overview of the latest research developments in fetal, perinatal, paediatric and placental pathology. Many distinguished paediatric pathologists and scientists will be joining this Course.

For the opening session, a complement performance of the most amazing and surprising Catalan tradition, the Human Towers or the “Castellers” will be presented.

We hope you will enjoy your stay at the Hotel Món. The hotel is only 5-minute walk from congress. You will find plenty of stunning gardens at and around the hotel premises and the temperature around this time of the year is mostly warm and sunny, so it may be the perfect place to do outside walking. Bring suitable shoes for this occasion!

Social dinner will take place at the Michelin star awarded Restaurant I’ “Ó” to try the most traditional Spanish food.

There are plenty of other social activities that complement the scientific sessions including Cardona and Montserrat sightseeing. There you will discover great treasures about Catalan artists. And, of course, we will be delighted to show you a small sample of the great Barcelona.

We would like to express our thanks to our dedicated staff, colleagues, friends and families for their untiring help, support and advice in planning and their excellent arrangements in all aspects of the Course.

We hope that you will enjoy the Course and that your interaction with your colleagues from many different countries will stimulate a creative exchange of ideas and will be personally rewarding. We also hope and trust that you will enjoy your visit to the very beautiful and exciting city of MónSant Benet, in October 2016.

Nearer the course, we will provide information regarding transportation from Barcelona.

Yours sincerely,

Carlota Rovira (crovira@hsjdbcn.org)

Joan Carles Ferreres (joancfp@gmail.com)

Course Director:

Dr Marta Cohen