Florence, Italy. June 2011

Dear Friends,

One month has passed since the 27th International Congress of Chemotherapy (ICC) took place in Milan (Italy) together with the 21st ECCMID and I would like to share some information regarding this meeting with all of you. This is the second time that the ISC and ESCMID have organized a joint congress, combining our efforts, experience, knowledge and dedication to attract scientific contributions from all over the world.  The first joint congress was held in Munich in 2007 and this year we repeated the experience which has been very important for both Societies whose mission is to advance the education and science of the therapy of infection in the world.  Scientific contributions came from 97 countries, many of which have ISC affiliated societies, from Chile to Australia, from China to Japan.

We received 3,733 abstracts, 1,974 of which were accepted as oral communications or posters; 557 were accepted only for publication in the Congress proceedings. There were 8,231 delegates, 1,393 exhibitors and company staff, 367 accompanying persons, to reach a total of 9,991 participants.

I am very glad to be able to underline the spirit of cooperation exhibited by the two Societies in preparing for the congress.  We did our best to respect each others’ reciprocal scientific capabilities and experience with the common objective of bringing about a congress which was as complete and up to date as possible from a scientific point of view, but also which offered some enjoyable social occasions.

	During the Congress many ISC Awards were given to outstanding Colleagues: Prof. Stuart B. Levy (ISC Hamao Umezawa Memorial Award), Prof. Fernando Baquero, Prof. Javier Garau and Prof. Helen Giamarellou (ISC Honorary Membership), Prof. Andrea Novelli and Prof Victor Lim (ISC Meritorious Membership), Prof David Livermore (ISC Yen Award) and Doctor Cees Van Nieuwkoop (ISC Masaaki Ohkoshi Award) Among the Awards given to young investigators, there were six Young Investigator Awards and, for the first time, the Society gave four ISC African Network Grants to support young African doctors to participate in the Congress.
	This year, 2011, is especially important because it is the 50th anniversary of the formal establishment of the ISC during the 2nd International Symposium of Chemotherapy held in Naples in 1961. The ISC was founded at a time when the flow of new antibiotics was just beginning and when prospects for the cure of all infections seemed a realizable dream. Unfortunately today, relatively few new antimicrobial agents are in development at a time when microbial resistance is rampant.  The ISC would like to continue to play a vital role in chemotherapy research, in the diffusion of knowledge and promotion of responsible, correct and appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. A demonstration of the activity of the Society are the 30 congresses/meetings that have been either organised by the ISC or supported by it through close collaboration with affiliated societies since June 2009 (the 26th ICC in Toronto).

The official journal of the ISC, the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, also continues to successfully publish articles addressing the most crucial areas of antimicrobial chemotherapy.

The foundation of the ISC took place in Italy 50 years ago and this anniversary has been celebrated again in Italy.  This event and this celebration took place in the lovely city of Milan, with many delegates ready to listen to results of the most up-to-date scientific research, but who also had the opportunity to visit the city, its museums and beautiful monuments.
With best wishes,

Professor Teresita Mazzei
ISC President
teresita.mazzei@unifi.it