Dear colleagues and friends,

It gives us immense pleasure in inviting all to attend the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid conference organized by the Department of Dermatology at PGIMER, Chandigarh in collaboration with International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation (IPPF) as well as Autoimmune Blistering Diseases Taskforce of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. The conference is scheduled on November 9 and 10, 2024 and will be held at, Chandigarh.

In this two-day conference, half a day will be dedicated to a workshop dealing with an array of diagnostic modalities that are employed in algorithmic approach to diagnosis of autoimmune blistering diseases. The workshop will be open for clinicians, pathologists and immunologists who want to understand the basics of the diagnostic investigations and to keep abreast with the development in diagnostics.

To cater to clinical needs of practicing dermatologists who are likely to be a major proportion of the audience, the scientific program of the one-and-a-half day conference will be clinic oriented, rather than research oriented. The broad outline will be clinical aspects of different autoimmune blistering disease, international guidelines for management of these discussed by international experts, Indian status discussed by Indian experts and the management gap will be summarized at the end of each session.

The speakers will consist global leaders who have researched extensively and led the development of treatment guidelines of these diseases, renowned Indian researchers who worked extensively on these diseases, and also clinical dermatologists who care for the patients of autoimmune blistering disease. There will be an almost an equal mix of national and overseas experts. Researchers and clinicians will have a scope for presenting results of their research in a free paper session or in e-poster sessions. For the active involvement of young, budding colleagues, there will be absorbing debates and a quiz for postgraduates. We expect more than 400 delegates. In addition to Indian delegates, we expect overseas delegates from neighbouring countries and transcontinental delegates as well.

Chandigarh is a planned city at the northern part of the country. The city was established in 1950s and the architectural planning was done by Le Corbusier, a French-Swiss architect. Weather in Chandigarh will be pleasant in November. The foothill of the Himalayas are hours away. There are countless number of attractive places worth visiting within some hours of travel. The official emblem of the city is the 'open hand' that represents the motto of the city-ready to give and ready to receive. You will find the true reflection of the city's emblem in execution of this conference. The organizing team is ready to receive all the delegates with open heart. We are confident that all delegates will return after the conference full of knowhow of managing their patients with autoimmune blistering diseases. Let us make the conference a success in all parameters, together.