The next Birdshot Day will be held on 28 September, 2013 in Boston, United States.  It is being hosted by Stephen Foster, whom many of you will know.  Stephen has been an inspiration for all of us with Birdshot, and held the very first ever Birdshot Day in Boston in 2008.  It was this meeting that inspired Annie and I to set up BUS.

The programme is still being worked on, but I have an initial draft.  Many of our own UK based consultants will be attending, and I am hoping that we can have Birdshotters from around the world (not just the US and UK).

Rea

9:00 – 9:05            Welcome – C. Stephen Foster

9:05 – 9:15             Definition and Etiology – Antoine Brezin from Paris

9:15 – 9:30             Epidemiology and Natural History – Albert Vitale from the US

What Are The Known “Truths” About Birdshot?

9:30 – 9:45             Birdshot is an Autoimmune Disease – Robert Nussenblatt from the US

9:45 – 10:00           Birdshot has Genetic Associations – Ralph Levinson from the US

10:00 – 10:15         Birdshot Outcomes with Corticosteroid Rx – Carlos Pavesio from the UK

10:15 – 10:45         Birdshot Outcomes with Immunomodulatory Therapy  Stephen Foster from the US

10:45 –11:15          Best Monitoring Practices for Birdshot – Henry Kaplan from the US and Carl Herbort from Switzerland

11:15 – 11:45           BREAK

11:45 – 12:15           Determinants of Remission and Cure – Phuc LeHoang from Paris

12:15 – 12:45           Biologic Response Modifier Therapy for Birdshot – Antoine Brezin from Paris

12:45 – 1:00             Corticosteroid Implant Therapy for Birdshot – Henry Kaplan from the US

1:00 – 2:00               LUNCH

2:00 – 2:15                Navigating the Off Label Use Maze – Frances Foster from the US

2:15 – 2:45                 Drugs in Development – Bahram Bodaghi from Paris

2:45 – 3:15                 Identifying Gaps in Knowledge about Birdshot –  Albert Vitale from the US

3:15 – 3:45                 Strategies for Closing the Gaps – Robert Nussenblatt from the US

3:45 – 4:30                 Open Mike for Birdshotters – All Speakers

4:30 – 4:45                 Closing Remarks – Stephen Foster from the US

In addition, there will be sessions around participating in research (including the taking of bloods, serum, cells, DNA); clinical trials, and results from the questionnaire on the quality of life, and further questionnaires.

This will be a really exciting conference with renowned international speakers – a place where we can pull together the expertise on Birdshot from around the world!  Our thanks go to Stephen Foster for all his work on bringing this important initiative together.

We need to try and find out how many of us Birdshotters from the UK are hoping to attend. If anyone is interested, could you let us know by sending an email.

This is your chance to meet Birdshotters and experts from across the world.

The 2014/15 Birdshot Day will be back in the UK.