Dear Colleagues,  

We are honoured to host the 50th ERA-EDTA Congress in the beautiful city of Istanbul, where an outstanding scientific programme will make the 2013 ERA-EDTA Congress a unique one,

worthy of the golden anniversary year of our Society.  
The meeting will be held in the Istanbul Congress Center which is a new building located in the heart of the city within walking distance from most congress hotels. The Scientific Committee has taken great care in preparing a high-quality and varied programme that will incorporate the latest developments and ideas in basic science, transitional and clinical science, to be presented in the form of lectures, mini-lectures, symposia and courses, as well as industry-sponsored symposia. The programme will be closely linked to advances in modern nephrology and also to the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease.
 Being a city that has been the home of several empires, religions and cultures, we feel like Istanbul, the big metropolis of today is a “collage” of all its past and its stakeholders.
 The city still houses sculptures of the Roman era, the biggest churches of the Byzantine Empire along with the mosques of the Ottomans and has been an incredible melting pot for people of all races and times. We have asked the famous contemporary Turkish painter Mr. Ismail Acar to create a special image for the cover of this booklet, this “collage” reflecting several aspects of our city that against all odds functions harmoniously creating the current magic of an ageless city. We hope that like this painting reflects the daily life of our city, our discussions during the congress will reflect all aspects so as to give better patient care with improvements in all its elements from surgery to home care, from pharmaceutical industry to nursing.
 As the local organizing committee, we are looking forward to welcoming you to Istanbul to celebrate our golden year in May 2013 to share the spectacular scientific programme with us and planning the next 50 years of nephrology in Europe.

Raymond Vanholder     Gültekin Süleymanlar     Cengiz Utas
ERA-EDTA President     Congress President     Congress Secretary

http://www.era-edta2013.org/en-US/home