2nd International Forum on Zygomycosis, Porto Heli, Greece

Dear Colleagues,

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to invite you to attend the 2nd International Forum on Zygomycosis, which will take place in Porto Heli, from the 28th to the 30th of May, 2010.

The epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of zygomycosis remain a challenge and many investigators, all over the world, are trying to solve the problems surrounding this emerging fungal infection.
The 1st Forum on Zygomycosis took place in Cape Sounion, in 2008 and it brought together many prominent scientists from Europe. Its proceedings were published in a supplement of CMI journal. At that time, a survey of zygomycosis in Europe had been undertaken by the ECMM Zygomycosis Working Group and during the period 2005 to 2007, 230 cases were collected from all over Europe. Since then the Working Group has expanded and it is now a global WG (USA, South America, India, Lebanon,etc) involving members both from ECMM and ISHAM.
The Hellenic Society of Medical Mycology, under the auspices of ECMM, ISHAM and in collaboration with ESCMID/ EFISG has organized the 2nd International Forum on Zygomycosis. It is now open to everyone who would like to attend, with a small registration fee.
The venue of the meeting is Porto Heli, a charming seaside town, situated on a beautiful, natural harbour in the Peloponnese, the southern region of mainland Greece. It is about 190km from Athens by road or 55 Nautical miles from Pireaus Port. Porto Heli is gateway to the authentic culture of the locale, its famed antiquities, including Mycenae, with the tomb of Agamenon, the ancient theater of Epidavros and the cosmopolitan islands of Spetses and Hydra, just minutes away. Epidavros is about 50km from Porto Heli and is the shrine to the Greek god of healing, Asclepios and the site of one of the best preserved amphitheatres in Greece. They have an excellent museum and the ancient dramas are performed in the amphitheatre (in various languages and by different theatre groups) during July and August.
Although there are no performances in May, we think that Zygomycosis is the theme of a modern drama. We have set the stage and invited the presenters. We hope that the performance will be exceptional, leading to a Forum on Zygomycosis which will be even more successful than the first one.

George Petrikkos,Co-ordinator of the ECMM/ISHAM Working Group on Zygomycosis