Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the President of our Society, Pier Paolo Di Fiore, and its Executive Council, it is with great pleasure that I invite you to our national congress, ABCD 2011.

As announced previously, the Society’s national congress was reinstated as a biennial event, alternating with the FISV Meeting. This year, the event will take place in Ravenna, from 8-10 September, at the Palazzo dei Congressi.

The congress is open to all researchers in Italy and abroad interested in the areas of cell biology and differentiation. ABCD members benefit from reduced registration fees.

It is my privilege to act as chair for this congress and, with the help of an excellent Organising Committee, we are happy to offer a programme that reflects the interests of our Society, based on high-level science, interdisciplinary interests, and constructive debate. These are the elements that render the ABCD such a dynamic and spontaneous academic reality.

You will certainly notice that the scientific programme has a special emphasis on Italian Science (carried out both nationally and abroad), being additionally enriched by several high-profile international speakers.

Keynote lecturers include Tom Misteli (Editor-in-Chief Journal of Cell Biology), Maria Leptin (EMBO Director), Christer Betsholtz (Karolinska Institutet) and Tom Kirchhausen (Harvard Medical School). Editors from JCB will also be attending.

Finally, four parallel sessions will host the classic themes that make up the traditional ABCD "Reunions" of the Special Interest Groups (Mechanisms of Signal Transduction; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine; Membrane Trafficking and Organelle Biogenesis; Cell Stress: Survival and Apoptosis).

The closing social dinner (10 September) will bring together all participants for an informal and stimulating get-together.

I would like to conclude with a few words about our hosting city and its magnificent heritage. Ravenna is generally known for its Byzantine mosaics, but it is often overlooked that it is home to eight monuments inserted in UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention, something exceptional by any standards and, in itself, worth a trip to this fascinating city. In addition, Ravenna’s seafront and its sprawling beaches – lidi ravennati – are also worth exploring

Finally, it should also be pointed out that Emilia-Romagna, the administrative region to which Ravenna belongs, is quite famous for its excellent cuisine.

With this attractive combination of high-quality science, fascinating art and history, and rich gastronomic variety, we look forward to welcoming you in Ravenna in September!

Paolo Pinton