Background

The 1^st and 2^nd meetings were held in Toronto in 1995, and Vancouver in 1997. The 3^rd meeting was held in Montreal in 1998. The plan was to continue to hold Canadian meetings on a 2-year cycle with a rotation of city and to form a Canadian Gene Therapy Society. However, in 1996 the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) was founded and most Canadian researchers in the field decided to join the ASGT. As a result, the series of Canadian meetings, initiated in 1995, were discontinued.

Nevertheless, the ATGQ decided to maintain their meetings and has had annual meetings, from 1999-2006, at different universities and research centers in Sherbrooke (twice), Montréal (five times) and Québec (twice), mainly with researchers and students from Québec and with some international guest speakers.

Meanwhile, a group led by Jeffrey Medin, initiated a series of Gene Therapy Meetings in 2002 at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario, with core participants from Southern Ontario along with a few international guest speakers. Over the years, participants from Québec and from other provinces have joined the yearly Langdon Hall Meeting.

At the Langdon Hall Meeting in 2007, it was decided to organize a joint meeting. The 4th Canadian Gene Therapy and Vaccines was held, the following year, in Montréal under the auspices of the ATGQ. The plan is to alternate this meeting between Cambridge, Ontario and Montréal, Québec every year.

Objective

The goal of this 5^th meeting is to gather Canadian researchers in this field, to provide a smaller forum more conducive for the exchange of ideas, share expertise and reagents, and foster collaborations instead of holding larger meetings hosting thousands of participants. It is also an invaluable training opportunity for graduate students and postdocs.

We expect to attract approximately 75 participants, including a number of high profile international guest speakers.