WELCOME ADDRESS
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We would like to invite you to the 9th Congress of the Vascular Access Society to take place in 2015 in the cosmopolitan city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
The Vascular Access Society is a multidisciplinary Society where nephrologists, surgeons, interventional radiologists, dialysis nurses and vascular or radiological technologists are involved. The main objective of the Society is focused on scientific developments about the vascular access for hemodialysis. Undoubtedly, the vascular access is the lifeline for many patients with acute renal failure or end-stage renal disease because their only option to move forward is to have free access to the blood stream in order to perform hemodialysis.
We want that all participants feel good within this Congress. We have tried to make an attractive scientific program and we would like to achieve an active participation of all attendees during the meeting. In this way, we will try to make an interactive Congress by introducing technological developments to serve the audience with the goal of making more agile the exchange of knowledge. For this reason, for example, we will organize real-time polling of the audience and Question-and-Answer Sessions to show the different points of view of the attendees. We are also planning hands-on workshops with simulation models and patients. A number of lunch-Symposium sponsored by the Industry are foreseen. We do not forget the important scientific contribution of free communications and posters.
And finally, Barcelona city…. What can we say about the city of Barcelona ? Barcelona is a Mediterranean capital with an unquestionable attractive in many ways like culture, leisure and entertainment, shopping, gastronomy and with an exceptional climate. Barcelona ranked fourth in the number of international tourists in 2012, representing an increase of 48.7% over 2005. It’s the only city in the world with nine buildings which are UNESCO World Heritage. Barcelona is also the world’s third most popular congress city, according to the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA).
The congress will take place at the Palau Congresos Barcelona (FIRA Montjuic) that is very closer to the Palau of Montjuic and the Plaça d’Espanya. This very well connected to the rest of the city by public transport and a few minutes from the “heart” of Barcelona: the “Plaça de Catalunya”
We want to make this Congress a veritable feast of the vascular access. What you enjoy it!
Welcome to Barcelona!
Ramon Roca-Tey Jose Ibeas
Chairman Co-Chairman