In any other year Milan would have been a fun and fabulous venue for an International Congress but instead ISTH 2020 – like most medical conferences this year – will be delivered online (12-14 July).

Despite the change, the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis organising committee are promising the usual high quality of scientific exchange including virtual plenaries, state-of-the-art lectures, e-poster and oral communication sessions, supported symposia, product theatres and an industry exhibition.

ISTH 2020 themes include arterial and venous thromboembolism, platelets and megakaryocytes, coagulation and natural anticoagulants, haemostasis in cancer, inflammation and immunity, diagnostics and OMICS, fibrinolysis and proteolysis, vascular biology, women’s health, and more.

Not surprisingly, the program will include a special session on COVID-19 and Thrombosis.

The four main plenary sessions are Advances and ethical aspects of gene therapy (Luigi Naldini), VWF in haemostasis from basic science to clinic (Peter Lenting), Unmet clinical needs and future advances in VTE (Alexander Cohen), and Guidance or organ specific vascular patterning (Anne Eichmann).

Some of the many Australians on the program include:

• Professor Marie Ranson – Fibrinolytic Factors in Cancer Progression
• Dr Jennifer Curnow – Outcomes of the First Australian Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) Model of Care for Intermediate to High Risk Pulmonary Embolism
• Dr Hiu Yuen – Post-Discharge Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism
• Dr Hannah Stevens – Thromboprophylaxis to International Conferences and Number of Thromboses (PINOT) study
• Julianne Chong – Successful Development and Implementation of Pharmacist-led VTE Stewardship. An Australian Tertiary Hospital Perspective.

More than 2,000 Congress abstracts are available now while COVID-19 abstracts will be released on July 12 and Late-Breaking Abstracts on July 13.

The annual ISTH Scientific and Standardisation Committee sessions are already underway ahead of the Congress.

Follow some of the #ISTH2020 news in the limbic’s newsletters and on Twitter @thelimbichaem