Dear friends and colleagues of the international HPV community,

It is with pleasure that I extend a warm welcome to Montréal for the 26th International Papillomavirus Conference and Workshops to you. Our organizing committee and partners are dedicated to provide an outstanding experience for learning and scientific exchange, a tradition consistent with all previous International Papillomavirus Conferences.

The meeting will be held in downtown Montréal from July 3 to 8, 2010 under the theme of "Sharing Knowledge for Global Health". Our preparations are well under way to offer you an all-encompassing conference experience. We are working diligently to be able to deliver on our 4 commitments:

• an affordable learning experience,
• fostering integrative research,
• enhancing developing countries' capacities, and
• inspiring a young generation of researchers.

Two workshops, the usual clinical workshop and a newly added public health workshop, will be held on July 3 and 4 prior to the conference, which will open in the evening of July 4th and continue until the July 8th.

Montréal will be at its best and especially lively as the International Jazz Festival will provide the perfect backdrop to our conference. All evenings will provide entertaining opportunities to help foster exchanges between members of the worldwide HPV community. We invite you to come and share your knowledge in order to contribute to the advancement and use of HPV technologies and to tackle the burden of HPV.

We are hoping to see you all in beautiful Montréal!

Marc Steben, Chairman, Local Organizing Committee