3’rd International suPAR Symposium

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the organizing committee, it is my pleasure to welcome you to “The 3rd International suPAR symposium” taking place at the end of February 2012 at the Danish National Museum in the centre of Copenhagen.

suPAR is the acronym for the protein soluble urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor.

Almost 100 researchers met in Copenhagen in March 2011 for the 2^nd International suPAR symposium. There were more than 25 presentations at the symposium during two sunny days, and many of these were video-recorded and can be viewed at www.biologictube.dk.

We hope to see many of you again, and also welcome new participants.

2011 has been an exciting year for suPAR and inflammation research, with more than 20 peer reviewed papers published on the prognostic value of suPAR. All these publications used the suPARnostic® assay, allowing for comparison of suPAR values across different disease areas. Furthermore, all published papers seem to come to the same conclusion: Elevated suPAR levels are associated with a negative outcome irrespectively of disease investigated.

Most of the publications in 2011 have confirmed suPAR’s relevance as a prognostic marker in sepsis, but we are also seeing more and more evidence of the value of suPAR in life style related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes 2 etc.

2011 also became the year when suPAR was first reported to be the cause of disease. Dr Wei and colleagues (Miami, USA) found that suPAR can activate the podocyte Beta3 integrin, leading to the kidney disease focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (Wei et al, Nat. Med. 2011).

Data suggest that suPAR is a stable marker of inflammation and immune activation, and that an elevated suPAR or elevated state of inflammation is a disease driving mechanism. We look forward to discuss this and other topics at the 3^rd International suPAR symposium.

Jesper Eugen-Olsen, PhD, Conference Chairman

suPAR researcher

Clinical Research Centre

Hvidovre University Hospital, Copenhagen

Purpose and Scope

The suPAR (soluble urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor) protein is a relatively new biomarker which has the ability to predict severity of illness and mortality. The prognostic value of suPAR has been described in published studies in recent years and is currently being tested in several health care applications.

The symposium aim is to bring together researchers, users and other persons to discuss the features and potential usability of the suPAR protein as a biomarker and will:

Provide a forum to learn about new findings and current suPAR studies
Host a scientific community discussion on the new opportunities that exist with a prognostic biomarker
Hear from the delegates what questions, feed-back and ideas for suPAR applications and user requirements
Facilitate foundation for international net-working

Preliminary Agenda

Session 1: Honorary Lecture
Session 2: suPAR Levels in the Healthy Population
Session 3: suPAR as a Marker in Triaging
Session 4: suPAR as a Risk Marker in Critical Care
Session 5: suPAR as a Marker in Kidney and Liver Disease
Roundtable Discussion: Optimizing use of suPAR in Disease Risk Management

Symposium Format

The 1½ day symposium will include invited and contributed speakers divided into 5 themed sessions.

Invited speakers will be given approx 25 minutes including questions and answers; - contributed speakers will have approx 15 minutes for their talks including questions and answers.

Invitation to submit abstract

Researchers in the field of basic science in suPAR and other relevant biomarkers, clinical science or management using suPAR are invited to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations. All oral presentations are requested to be presented as poster presentation as well. All abstracts will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee. For more see Abstracts

Date and Venue

27'th & 28'th February, 2012 Copenhagen, Denmark
(Starts February 27'th at 9 AM, finishes February 28'th at 1 PM)

Do you have your own African Farm, or perhaps you can relate to the feelings of the Ugly Duckling or yet again, perhaps you are more into details like formulating the principle of atomic fission in order to win a Nobel prize? Well, then perhaps you are just like Karen Blixen, Hans Christian Andersen or Niels Bohr, whom are all famous Danes.

With several hundred years of history, Copenhagen has a lot to offer from the old harbor Nyhavn to the World’s best restaurant NOMA. Copenhagen consists of a multitude of areas, each with its own charm, history and distinctive character. Together they make up a dense urban fabric. Though different, the areas have three features in common. The presence of water, parks and bicycle paths.

The 3’rd International suPAR Symposium will be held in central Copenhagen, Denmark at the National Museum, Frederiksholms Kanal 12, 1220 Copenhagen K, Tel no. +45 3313 4411, www.natmus.dk

Scientific Committee

     Eugen-Olsen, Jesper
Jesper Eugen Olsen, PhD       Marcus Schultz, MD, PhD
Copenhagen, Denmark         Amsterdam, Netherlands

Andersen, Ove
Ove Andersen, MD, PhD Alta Scutte, PhD, Copenhagen, Denmark Potchefstroom,

South Africa

Jyrki Tenhunen, MD, PhD Prof. Antonio Artigas, MD, PhD

Tampere, Finland Barcelona, Spain

Registration and payment

Untill December 31, 2011	EUR 250.00 Professional EUR 90.00 Student
January 1 - February 15, 2012	EUR 275.00 Professional EUR 100.00 Student
After February 15, 2012	Onsite Registration Only EUR 350.00 Professional EUR 150.00 Student

Cancellation: A 25% cancellation fee will be charged on any cancellation received before January 31, 2012.
No refunds will be given after January 31, 2012.