INVITATION FOR EUROPEAN WILLIAMS-BEUREN SYNDROME CONFERENCE
On behalf of the Organizing Committee of the European Williams Syndrome Congress, we are happy to invite
you to attend this important conference, which will be held during 21st-23rd of November, 2014 in
Budapest.
About the event
The European Federation of Williams Syndrome (FEWS) organises in cooperation with the Hungarian Williams
Syndrome Association (HWSA) a European Congress on Williams-Beuren Syndrome to raise the awareness
on this rare disease, make the stakeholder groups more interactive and establish international cooperation
on expert field.
The previous European Williams Syndrome Conference was organized in Paris in 2008. The member
associations of FEWS realized this long gap which makes necessary to organize a meeting again, as the
development of science is rapid in the area of Williams Syndrome (WS) as well. The most recognised speakers
of Europe will exchange ideas with not only the experts of European Countries, but also with the families,
coming mainly from the new EU Member states.
The focus is to share good practices and knowledge on the disease between European Countries with a good
expertise and other European Countries with lesser experience on the syndrome. The ultimate goal of the
Conference is to help patients with WS have a better life by promoting or improving better care, including
those elements which may integrate with the EU policy on rare diseases.
Meanwhile, we hope you can share your stimulating data, valuable scientific information and influential
experiences about Williams-Beuren Syndrome with other professionals, researchers and families. You are
encouraged to network and explore partnering opportunities. We hope that many new scientific partnerships
and collaborations could be built between international colleagues.
Planned programme* and confirmed speakers:
21th November 2014, Friday
13:30 Registration is opening
14:00-17:00 Satellite meeting only for FEWS members
18:00-19:00 Welcome Reception and the Opening of the Poster Session
22th November 2014, Saturday
09:00 Opening Speeches. Invited speakers: Zoltán Balog (Minister of Human Resources, Hungary), Duke Leopoldo
Torlonia (Patron of FEWS), Suzy Cooper Morgan (Chair of FEWS), Zsuzsanna Bojtor Pogányné (President of HWSA)
10:00 An overview of the genetic aspects of Williams syndrome and research approaches. Confirmed speaker: Dr. Kay
Metcalfe (UK)
10:35 Pediatrics. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr. Reiner Pankau (Germany)
11:10 Coffee break
11:40 Cardiovascular anomalies in patients with Williams syndrome. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr.Damien Bonnet
(France)
12:15 Oral health (care) and Williams-Beuren syndrome: challenges and opportunities. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr.
Dominique Declerck (Belgium)
12:50 Lunch
13:50 Research (Minoxidil). Confirmed speaker: Dr. Behrouz Kassai (France)
14:25 Cross border health care information. Confirmed speaker: Dr. Gábor Pogány (Hungary)
15:00 Coffee break
15:30 The Williams syndrome cognitive profile: Implications for education. Confirmed Speaker: Hannah Broadbent,
Dr. Emily Farran (UK)
16:05 Music Therapy. Confirmed Speaker: Anita Toth-Bakos (Slovakia)
16:40 Closing the day
18:00 Dinner and sightseeing Tour on the Danube
23rd November 2014, Sunday
10:00 Neurocognitive studies of infants and toddlers with Williams syndrome. Confirmed speaker: Dr. Dean D'Souza,
Prof. Dr. Annette Karmiloff-Smith (UK)
10:35 Neuropsychology. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr. Stefano Vicari (Italy)
11:10 Coffee break
11:40 Sleeping problems. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr. Ilona Kovács, Dr. Robert Bódizs (Hungary)
12:15 Linguistics. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr. Julia Siegmüller (Germany)
12:50 Social Services. Confirmed speaker: Prof. Dr. Karel Pancocha (Czech Republic)
13:25 Closing the conference and lunch
*The program is under consultation process so it may change.
EWSC attracts participants around Europe, the majority of them are hospital doctors, clinical laboratory
personnel, researchers from universities and research institutes, and representatives from pharmaceutical
companies, and patient advocates. We will build up a platform for basic researchers, clinical, pharmaceutical
and paramedical researchers, which will be the best way for academic exchanging, finding potential
cooperation opportunities, accelerating the transformation and promoting achievements. The official
language of this conference will be English. For more information please go to
http://conference2014.eurowilliams.org
Registration
Please let us know if you’re interested to participate at our Conference and register on the programme
website
as
soon
as
possible,
by
the
latest
date
of
1
November
(http://conference2014.eurowilliams.org/registration). We have the full confidence to believe that EWSC
2014 will be great and successful with your participation.
Look forward to seeing you in November.
Sincerely,
Zsuzsanna Bojtor Pogányné
President of HWSA
Suzy Cooper Morgan
Chair of FEWS
Contact for more information:
Tel: +3617883881
E-mail: info@williams.org.hu
Web:
http://conference2014.eurowilliams.org