It is with heavy hearts that the leaders of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation have made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the 2020 ISHLT Annual Meeting, which was to take place April 22-25 in Montreal.

Our top priority is the health and safety of our attendees, staff, partners and our communities, and our responsibility to protect the integrity of healthcare delivery systems and patients.

We thank you and the entire ISHLT community for understanding the extreme difficulty of this decision and for your commitment to the success of this event – from the thousands of attendees to the presenters, exhibitors and sponsors who share their time, expertise, collaboration and leadership.

What Happens Next?

• All registered Annual Meeting and Academy attendees will be entitled to a registration refund. You do not need to contact ISHLT, information will be forthcoming.
• Please remember to cancel any personal arrangements you’ve made, such as travel and housing reservations.
• We are developing plans to deliver content intended for presentation in Montreal by alternate means, including meetings and other non-scientific components of the meeting that give shape to our organization. It is our intention to hold a virtual opening plenary session during the time window in April we were planning to be together.
• We will publish abstracts in the April issue of JHLT as originally planned.
• ISHLT will be reaching out separately to our supporters, exhibitors and presentation partners regarding next steps.
   

Information on the refund process and plans for delivery of content from the 2020 meeting will be sent to you by March 31.

We will use this cancellation as a springboard to develop new ways for interacting with each other and engaging our ISHLT community. We ask for patience as we evaluate our next steps, and we will alert you as additional information becomes available.

Stuart Sweet
ISHLT President

Stephan Ensminger
ISHLT 2020 Annual Meeting Program Chair