PancreasFest 2010: Defining & Classifying Disease to Enhance Research & Care

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): PancreasFest 2010, scheduled for July 30-31, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will bring together physicians and scientists at all career stages from academic medical centers to address pathogenic, diagnostic, and therapeutic research progress and needs in pancreatic diseases. We will specifically bring together leaders in the field to better define and classify the etiology, diagnosis, severity, progression, complications, and outcomes of recurrent acute pancreatitis (RAP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). We will also evaluate current and new modalities for imaging, monitoring, treating, and measuring response to treatment and review available research on mechanisms for the etiology and progression of disease. As a group, we will further identify the highest priority research questions for each disorder and collaborate on the planning of multicenter trials to address these questions. The meeting also provides a venue in which to hold investigator meetings for ongoing multicenter clinical trials, such as the North American Pancreatitis Study 2 (NAPS2), Feeding and Pancreatic Rest in Acute Pancreatitis (now SNAP), and Idiopathic Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis (IRAP). The mission of PancreasFest mirrors that of the NIDDK in its commitment to understand the biological basis of pancreatic disease toward developing improved methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in advancing public health. The conference program will have four major sessions aimed at stimulating collaborative research in pancreatic diseases, particularly those needs identified by the National Commission on Digestive Diseases in their recent report entitled Opportunities and Challenges in Digestive Diseases Research. Although exciting progress has been made, our new knowledge highlights the fact that our definition of RAP and CP and classification system of complications is totally inadequate. Physicians and basic scientists must come together to discuss recent advances; to develop uniform definitions of RAP and CP, their progression, and their complications; and to recommend the use or development of better measures and biomarkers of the components of this disease. The scientific agenda and draft working documents and bibliographies for use in deriving standard definitions and classifications are being developed by a 10-member Conference Committee comprising physicians and basic scientists, including African American and women members. We anticipate the development of several important statements on the uniform definitions of RAP and CP and their complications as well as recommendations on the principles of measuring biomarkers of fibrosis, exocrine function, diabetes, and pain. We also anticipate that this program will lay the groundwork for future translational studies that are cooperatively structured in a way that will lead to major advances in the field. PancreasFest 2010 will benefit patients who have and are at risk for pancreatitis and other pancreatic disorders by providing a forum for leading experts in the field to discuss results of current research and identify the best methods for diagnosing, treating, monitoring, and preventing pancreatitis and other pancreatic disease. No other conference focuses on these disorders, and the meeting format encourages all attendees to participate in the discussion of how to provide the best possible clinical care.