On behalf of the Organising Committee for the 2012 USANZ Annual Scientific Meeting and the Board of Directors of USANZ, I would like to invite you all to attend the meeting to be held at the Darwin Convention Centre from the 21^st to 24^th April 2012.   The ASM has undergone significant changes to the format that has been used in the past and we are confident that these will substantially enhance the value of the meeting for all. 

The meeting will now commence on the Saturday evening with the Opening Reception and Harry Harris Oration. This will be preceded by a limited number of workshops (free entry) that will be conducted on the Saturday afternoon between 1430 and 1630, details of these will be released shortly. The main body of the meeting will run on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, concluding with the Gala Dinner on the Tuesday evening. We would draw your attention to Wednesday 25^th April being ANZAC Day and this obviously provides special opportunities that need no elaboration.

The structure of the scientific programme has been revamped in recognition of the increasing subspecialisation amongst members. On each of the three core days of scientific sessions, the day will commence with a plenary session which will move quickly through topics of general interest and the cutting edge of urological opinion. Following the morning tea break, four concurrent subspecialty streams will be in operation. For 2012, these will be in Uro-Oncology, Female Urology, Endourology and Paediatric Urology. The agenda for these programmes are being driven by our Special Advisory Groups in close consultation with the Scientific Programme Convenor, Venu Chalasani. 

The international faculty has been significantly expanded to allow a greater cross fertilisation of ideas and a wider cross section of cutting edge thoughts on current and future urological practice. There will be in excess of 20 international faculty who will contribute in conjunction with local expertise across the areas of subspecialty interest and to make attendance to this meeting an absolute must. Do return regularly to the conference website to see updates as we progressively populate the list of International Faculty.

Finally, we have extended the period for abstract submission and for the first time in many years, this will be after the closure date for the AUA Annual Meeting. This provides an opportunity for all who would submit abstracts to the AUA Annual Meeting to also submit to the USANZ ASM. Please carefully consider the instructions for abstract submission and close adherence to these will maximise the chances of success in acceptance of your abstract. Due to the very tight deadlines created by moving back our submission closure date, there will be no opportunity for extension of the abstract deadline or late abstracts.

Behind the scenes there are numerous additional changes to how we are going to conduct this meeting but these will proceed seamlessly in the background to provide delegates with the best meeting experience we can offer.

We are excited about the changes that have been put into place and sense that this will be a special meeting at a special venue. Registrations are now open please click here for details. We look forward to seeing you all in Darwin.

Warmest regards

Henry Woo
Convenor and Chair of 2012 USANZ ASM Organising Committee