Welcome to the OMERACT 10 Registration Site

A word from the chair...

Since the first OMERACT was held in The Netherlands in 1992, we have circled the globe nine times and achieved immeasurable successes. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, the OMERACTers, for making OMERACT such a great success over the past 18 years and we look forward to OMERACT 10 being as productive and creative as past OMERACT Conferences.

The main programme starts one day earlier than usual, on Tuesday 4th May. In tribute to John Sharp who passed away shortly after OMERACT 9, we have arranged to start proceedings with a half day symposium in his memory, dedicated to Biomarkers and Imaging.

The Welcome Dinner on Tuesday is followed by a number of important Special Interest Groups (SIG).

As usual, the rest of the programme is packed with fully interactive sessions covering The Patient Perspective, Responder indices - Ankylosing Spondylitis, Fibromyalgia and Psoriatic Arthritis and other OMERACT initiatives including Gout, Vasculitis, Flares and Remission in RA.

The Rasa Ria Resort, located in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, is situated on 40 acres of lush tropical vegetation and unspoilt beaches. We believe that this beautiful secluded meeting spot in Kota Kinabalu will provide the perfect atmosphere for the collegial, interactive atmosphere that has been unique to OMERACT from its inception.

We hope that you will be able to attend OMERACT 10 in 2010 and look forward to the lively discussions that have characterized previous OMERACTs!

There have been some concerns expressed about travel to Malaysia / Borneo. I started a clinical school in Brunei (about 200km from Kota Kinabalu) for the University of Queensland some 9 years ago . We still send some 50 students there every year and many of them travel to Kota to climb Mount Kinabalu. They have never had any problems with travel or disease. Monash University (from Melbourne) has a campus in Malaysia and my close contacts there again report no travel concerns with any staff including Jewish people . I enclose a comment from the US state department website.

"Travelers with Israeli entry or exit stamps in their American passports do not encounter difficulty at Malaysian Immigration. However, American-Israeli dual nationals have been denied entry after presenting their Israeli passports to show exit stamps. It is therefore important that American-Israeli dual Nationals use their US passports to depart the last country on their itinerary prior to arriving in Malaysia."

If you have any concerns about this please email omeract@q2q.co.uk who will be able to assist you further.

Happy registration and travels - look forward to seeing you at OMERACT 10

---

Peter Brooks, Chair, OMERACT EXEC (OMERACT 10)