On November 10 & 11, 2008 the P³G Consortium will be hosting its next meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) immediately preceding the ASHG 2008 Conference. All P³G members are invited to join and take part in this exciting scientific event. P³G aims to facilitate international harmonization between major population biobanks and longitudinal studies, as well as, to offer a focal point for knowledge sharing and collaboration. A preliminary agenda is available on the website under the Topics Sessions tab.

IWG (International Working Groups) Sessions
Working sessions are organized by topics (Topic Sessions) or by IWG groups (International Working Group 1, 2, 3 and 4). Over the two days, there will be multiple Topic Sessions which will run simultaneously in blocks of 2 or 3 sessions at a time. All participants will be able to attend whichever session is of interest to them regardless of their background and expertise. Please see registration form for the Topic Sessions Schedule.

Highlights of the meeting include:

• Ethics of GWAS
• Nutritional Biomarkers
• The Future of Open Access Databases
• A Roadmap for Biobanking Guidelines?
• Population based biobanks versus tissue banks?
• Models of Governance

STEERING COMMITTEE

Members of the Steering Committee will be invited for an official face-to-face meeting to discuss future scientific directors for P3G.

…NOT A P³G MEMBER YET?
The development of population genomics requires an international, multidisciplinary and pluridisciplinary approach. If your Population Based Biobank or Research center has specific expertise in the field of Biobanking we would encourage you to become a member now!

Also, if you have expertise in the field of population genomics and related fields and want to actively contribute to the scientific development of this field, please consider becoming a P³G member. Joining P³G as an individual member is free and requires only an online application along with your CV.

To join P³G, visit our membership application webpage:
http://www.p3gconsortium.org/membInfo.cfm.

HOTEL INFORMATION
This year the meeting will be held at:
Courtyard Marriott Philadelphia Downtown (walking distance from the ASHG venue).
21 N Juniper Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107 USA

Hotel Accommodations
For your convenience, P3G has reserved a block of rooms for P3G members at the Marriott Courtyard at the preferred rate of $219.00US per night, per room for single or double occupancy. This block is available from November 9 to 11, 2008 inclusive (checking out on the 12th). In order to benefit from the preferred rate, please take note that reservations must be made by October 15, 2008 (subject to availability), after October 15 the block of rooms reserved for P3G will be released.

You may contact the hotel directly at 1-800-321-2211 (in North America) or +1 (215) 496-3200 to reserve your room. Please mention that you are with the "Public Population Project in Genomics" when making your reservation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
If you need further information about the P³G Consortium General Annual Meeting or about P³G in general, please contact us at: secretariat@p3g.org.