End of year three
The GenoMEL Network of Excellence has completed its third year! This was our busiest year yet with significant progress in all our work platforms. A big thank you must go to all the members of GenoMEL for their contributions over the last 12 months.

The GenoMEL early diagnosis of melanoma tutorial
NKD, one of the GenoMEL partners, are putting the final changes to the GenoMEL tutorial concerning the early diagnosis of melanoma. The tutorial is due to be mounted on the website in early 2009. Further announcements will follow.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here.

Meetings in 2009

January
24-25 January, 19th Annual Cutaneous Malignancy Update, San Diego, California

30 January, Melanoma Study Group, UCL, London, UK

March
6-10 March, 67th Annual Meeting of the AAD, San Francisco, California, USA

May
3-6 May, 12th World Congress on Cancers of the Skin, Tel Aviv, Israel

12-16 May, 7th World Congress on Melanoma, joint meeting with the 5th Congress of the European Association of Dermato-Oncology Vienna, Austria

20-24 May, 10th International Congress of Dermatology, Prague, Czech Republic

June
9-12 June, Annual GenoMEL Meeting, Ljubljana, Slovenia

October
7-11 October, 18th EADV Congress, Berlin, Germany

November
1-4 November, SMR International Melanoma Congress, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

GenoMEL publications
Our consortium members have been busy on the publication front with a brief communication in Nature Genetics and a paper in the International Journal of Cancer. We can look forward to a flurry of publications in 2009 as a number of collaborative projects come to fruition.

New podcast
A new GenoMEL podcast is available! This fifth podcast features an interview with Dr Ruby Chang.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here.

Meetings in 2009

January
24-25 January, 19th Annual Cutaneous Malignancy Update, San Diego, California

30 January, Melanoma Study Group, UCL, London, UK

March
6-10 March, 67th Annual Meeting of the AAD, San Francisco, California, USA

May
3-6 May, 12th World Congress on Cancers of the Skin, Tel Aviv, Israel

12-16 May, 7th World Congress on Melanoma, joint meeting with the 5th Congress of the European Association of Dermato-Oncology Vienna, Austria

20-24 May, 10th International Congress of Dermatology, Prague, Czech Republic

June
9-12 June, Annual GenoMEL Meeting, Ljubljana, Slovenia

October
7-11 October, 18th EADV Congress, Berlin, Germany

November
1-4 November, SMR International Melanoma Congress, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

The BMA 2008 Patient Information Awards
GenoMEL’s website has been commended as part of the British Medical Association Patient Information Awards. This award is recognition of all the hard work GenoMEL members have put into keeping our patient information pages up to date.

The online GenoMEL questionnaire for the general public
Our online questionnaire concerning behaviour in the sun has now ended. Over 11,000 people used the questionnaire and we hope to announce the findings next year. Thank you to everyone who took part!.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here.

Upcoming European ‘Biobanks’ conference
The European Science Foundation (ESF) and the University of Barcelona (UB) are organising a conference on Biobanks. It will take place 1-6 November in Sant Feliu, Spain. The conference will cover governance, management and use of human Biobanks. Further details can be found at www.esf.org/conferences/08265.

Up coming Meetings

2008 ESF and UB ‘Biobanks’ conference
1-6 November, Sant Feliu, Spain
www.esf.org/conferences/08265

2009 19th Annual Cutaneous Malignancy Update
24-25 January, San Diego, California
Further details will be available on the web shortly.

GenoMEL Exchange Programme
Congratulations to Kelly Holohan - Kelly has secured a GEP place and will be travelling to Australia.

GenoMEL Exchange Fund (GEF)
Congratulations must also go to Silvia Lourenco and Lisa Cannon-Albright who have both made successful applications to the GEF. Further details of both the GEP and GEF can be found here.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here.

Upcoming European ‘Biobanks’ conference
The European Science Foundation (ESF) and the University of Barcelona (UB) are organising a conference on Biobanks. It will take place 1-6 November in Sant Feliu, Spain. The conference will cover governance, management and use of human Biobanks. Further details can be found at www.esf.org/conferences/08265.

Up coming Meetings

2008 17th Annual Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology Venereology
September 17-21, Paris, France
www.eadvparis2008.com

2008 Perspectives in Melanoma XII
2 - 4 October, Scheveningen/The Hague,
The Netherlands www.imedex.com/appweb/announcements/a030-01.asp

2008 ESF and UB ‘Biobanks’ conference
1-6 November, Sant Feliu, Spain
www.esf.org/conferences/08265

2009 19th Annual Cutaneous Malignancy Update
24-25 January, San Diego, California
Further details will be available on the web shortly.

GenoMEL Exchange Programme
The results of the 2008 GenoMEL Exchange Programme (GEP) will be announced shortly!

The next annual GenoMEL meeting
The 2009 annual meeting will take place during the week of the 8th June, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here.

Up coming Meetings

2008 17th Annual Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology Venereology
September 17-21, Paris, France www.eadvparis2008.com.

2008 Perspectives in Melanoma XII
2 - 4 October, Scheveningen/The Hague, The Netherlands www.imedex.com/appweb/announcements/a030-01.asp

The annual GenoMEL meeting
A very successful GenoMEL meeting took place in Paris last month. The full breath of GenoMEL’s research activities was covered with over 35 scientific talks. The talks given by our guest speakers from Australia, Norway and France were particularly well received.

Future annual meetings
The 2009 annual meeting will be in Ljubljana, Slovenia followed by Leeds, UK in 2010.

The existing online questionnaire
GenoMEL’s online questionnaire aimed at the general public has now exceeded its target of 10,000 responses! GenoMEL is grateful to everyone who has taken part and intends to report the results early next year. The questionnaire is still active so if you have yet to complete it you still have a chance to do so.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here. Other language versions will follow shortly.

Up coming Meetings

2008 88th Annual Meeting of the British Association of Dermatologists
July 1-4, Liverpool, UK. Further information can be found here.

2008 17th Annual Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology Venereology
September 17-21, Paris, France www.eadvparis2008.com.

2008 Perspectives in Melanoma XII
2 - 4 October, Scheveningen/The Hague, The Netherlands www.imedex.com/announcements/A030-01.asp

GenoMEL’s ethical guidance
Following a long period of consultation, GenoMEL has revised its ethical guidance to its constituent groups. To download this guidance please click here.

New GenoMEL paper
The European Journal of Cancer has published a new GenoMEL paper entitled ‘A comparison of CDKN2A mutation detection within the Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL)’. This paper describes how GenoMEL groups carry out screening for mutations in the CDKN2A gene to a consistently high standard.

New questionnaires for existing GenoMEL study participants
Two online questionnaires are now available for people who have already been involved in our melanoma family studies. To take part you need a password from your research group. To find the questionnaires please click here. Other language versions will follow shortly.

Up coming Meetings

2008 20th International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC) & Vth International Melanoma Research Congress
This joint meeting is taking place May 7–12, in Sapporo, Japan. Further information can be found here.

2008 International Investigative Dermatology (Joint Meeting of the ESDR, SID and JSID)
May 14–17, Kyoto, Japan. Further information can be found here.

2008 9th Congress of the European Society for Pediatric Dermatology
May 15-17, Athens, Greece. Further information can be found here.

2008 5th EADV Spring Symposium
May 22-25, Istanbul, Turkey. Further information can be found here.

The annual GenoMEL meeting
June 9-12, Paris, France.

2008 Melanoma Study Group
This meeting takes place June 27, Birmingham, UK. Further information can be found here.

2008 88th Annual Meeting of the British Association of Dermatologists
July 1-4, Liverpool, UK. Further information can be found here.

2008 17th Annual Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology Venereology
September 17-21, Paris, France www.eadvparis2008.com

Expansion of the website
Two new pages have been added to the GenoMEL website. There is now a general ‘links page’ and a ‘GenoMEL in the media’ section.

The on-line questionnaire concerning behaviour in the sun
Over 8,000 people have completed our on-line questionnaire! If you have yet to complete the questionnaire, and would like to, please click here. To see some of the interest that this project has created in the media, click here.

Up coming Meetings

The 66th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology
This meeting takes place 1-5 February in San Antonio, Texas, USA Further information can be found here

The SN2008 – the next frontier meeting
This meeting takes place 18-20 February in Sydney, Australia. Further information can be found here

2008 Dermatologia Globale
This meeting takes place April 23-26, in Genoa, Italy. Further information can be found here

2008 20th International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC) & Vth International Melanoma Research Congress
This joint meeting is taking place May 7–12, in Sapporo, Japan. Further information can be found here

If you have any comments on the website or on this news section please e-mail us at info@genomel.org

The on-line questionnaire concerning behaviour in the sun
Over 7,000 people have completed our on-line questionnaire! If you have yet to complete the questionnaire, and would like to, please click here. The University of Leeds has also produced an article about this research project that can be viewed here.

Up coming Meetings

Melanoma 2008: 18th Annual Cutaneous Malignancy Update
This conference takes place 19-20 January 2008 at the Omni San Diego Hotel in California, USA. The topics under discussion will include Mohs Surgery, Early Diagnostic Techniques, Radiation Therapy, the Role of Sun Exposure and Protection, and Sentinel Node Evaluation. Further information can be found here. 

Melanoma Study Group winter meeting
This MSG meeting takes place on January 25 at Barts and the London Hospital, UK Further information can be found here

The 66th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology
This meeting takes place 1-5 February in San Antonio, Texas, USA Further information can be found here
 

The SN2008 – the next frontier meeting
This meeting takes place 18-20 February in Sydney, Australia Further information can be found here