Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

On behalf of EAACI, we are delighted to welcome you to Athens for the secondInternational Severe Asthma Forum (ISAF). 

Despite modern treatment facilities, less than half of our patients achieve acceptable clinical control and a substantial number have severe uncontrolled disease with risk of repeated exacerbations. The ISAF 2014 meeting will continue to build upon the success of the first ISAF meeting in Gothenburg 2012, focusing on updated translational research within the area. 

The general purpose of the meeting is to assemble dedicated people in the field, involving both experienced key opinion leaders and young scientists. We hope that the meeting will facilitate future collaborative work between scientists with a common interest in the field. Another aim is to use ISAF 2014 as an initiation platform for future expert work on specified areas, translating updated science into clinical practice. Some discussions will be followed-up by future research seminars as a joint collaboration between ERS and EAACI.

One ambition with ISAF 2014 is to avoid the impression of a mini-conference with lectures covering a wide range of topics within the field. Creative interaction and discussion is the key to the future of the meeting. Therefore, this year we will focus on some aspects of severe asthma, including; severe asthma exacerbations, severe asthma and innate immune defense, including fungal asthma and biomarkers and outcome measures in severe asthma.  

We look forward to welcoming speakers who will travel from all over the world to share their expertise with us. We would also like to acknowledge everyone who has made topic suggestions and submitted abstracts.

Best wishes, 

The Organising Committee welcomes the submission of abstracts for Posters and Free Paper presentations at ISAF 2014.

Abstract submission will be open from 1 April until 31 July 2014 at 24:00 CET.

Abstracts received after this date will not be considered.

Accepted and presented abstracts will be published on the ISAF 2014 website and on the EAACI official online journal, Clinical and Translational Allergy, as a supplement (approximately eight weeks after the meeting), on condition that the presenting author has paid the registration fee and has presented the abstract. 

General abstract information

Abstract topics
Only abstracts on asthma topics will be considered. Both scientific work and case presentations are welcome.

Abstract regulations
• Abstracts must be written in English
• Maximum 2,500 characters (approximately 340 words), including spaces but excluding title and contact information of the authors
• It is the author’s responsibility to submit a fully corrected abstract. Any errors in spelling, grammar or scientific fact will be reproduced as typed by the author
• You are allowed to be the presenting author of more than one abstract
• You are allowed to be a co-author of an unlimited number of abstracts 
• Submission of closely related abstracts from the same group is discouraged
• Abstracts will only be considered for presentation if they are not published or submitted for presentation elsewhere
• Abstract presenters must be registered for ISAF 2014 and pay the registration fee for attendance at the scientific sessions
• Confirmation of your abstract submission will be sent to your e-mail address immediately after submission. A personal user ID and password will also be sent to you and will allow access to an Online Personal Page where you can edit your abstract until the online abstract submission closes.

For questions, please e-mail education@eaaci.org.

Notification of acceptance
Notifications of acceptance or rejection of the abstracts will be sent to the corresponding author of the abstract by mid August 2014. 

Accepted abstracts will be considered for oral or poster presentation.

The corresponding author receives all correspondence concerning the abstract. The corresponding author is responsible for informing all other co-authors of the status of the abstract. 

All abstract presenters will be asked to reconfirm their attendance after receiving the notification. If you do not reconfirm your abstract presentation, register and pay the registration fee before 27 October 2014, your abstract will be removed.

Presentations of abstracts
Accepted abstracts will be presented in Oral Abstract Sessions and Poster Discussion Sessions. 

Publication of abstracts
Accepted abstracts will be available on the ISAF 2014 website. Only abstracts presented during ISAF 2014 will be published in the CTA Journal after the meeting.

EAACI travel grant
All JMA abstract presenters automatically qualify for a chance to receive an EAACI Travel Grant of EUR 300 each. The winners will be notified prior to the meeting and reimbursements should be submitted after the meeting.

For abstract submission support please contact EAACI Headquarters at:education@eaaci.org.