SARS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2009
BRISTOL
7 - 8 JANUARY 2009

University of Bristol Chemistry Lecture Theatres 7 - 8 JANUARY 2009

Local Organiser: Mr Frank Smith

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Foreword by Frank Smith, Local Organiser, SARS Annual Meeting, Bristol, 2009

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Society of Academic and Research Surgery (SARS), to be hosted by the University of Bristol. This is a special pleasure since 2009 will be the 21st anniversary of the last Annual Meeting to be held in Bristol.

We have a full and exciting programme for you. In response to suggestions that a 3-day meeting takes too much time out of the working week, the meeting has been reduced to 2 days this year, but contains a packed scientific programme. For the first time ever, we share simultaneous sessions with the British Association of Urology and The Society of Head and Neck Surgeons. The Patey Prize sessions will take place over the 2 days of the meeting. There will be an Update in Clinical Trials Symposium in which experts summarise the current important trials in Upper Gastrointestinal, Colorectal, Breast and Endocrine, and Head and Neck surgery. Professor Gianni Angelini, BHF Chair at the Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol will chair a symposium on Cardiovascular Biology. The Association of Surgeons in Training (ASIT) will be running a session focussing on academic training issues and there will be presentations of prize-winning papers from our sister surgical research societies from the USA, South Africa and Europe.

Two important eponymous lectures will take place. The BJS Lecture will be given by Professor Thomas Wakefield, Professor of Vascular Surgery at Ann Arbor, University of Michigan. The John Farndon Memorial Lecture entitled "Stem Cells and the origins of human cancer" will be introduced by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol and given by Sir Nicholas Wright, Warden at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The Lonely Planet Guide describes Bristol as "buzzing... an artistic incubator and aeronautical hub, combining hip street culture with cutting edge technology, to make it one of Britain's hotbeds of technical innovation." Bristol conjures up images of graceful Georgian Clifton, and of Brunel's legacy, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and the SS Great Britain.

The majestic SS Great Britain, winner of the Gulbenkian Museum Prize in 2006, (followed in second place by the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons), will be the venue for the Gala Dinner. You will have opportunity to look around the restored ship's quarters, the cabins, the surgical bay, engine room and museum before dining in the elegant State Dining Saloon.

The city also houses art galleries, the Royal West of England Academy, rebuilt and bustling dock areas and is home to culturally diverse icons such as Banksy, graffiti artist, Wallace and Grommit, the Children's Hospital mascots and the annual balloon fiesta. A thriving and cosmopolitan student population ensures excellent restaurants, pubs and an exciting nightlife.

We look forwards to welcoming you to Bristol. We have the makings of an outstanding scientific meeting in store for you, with opportunities to meet old friends and to make new ones. See you in January 2009!