Welcome Letters

Welcome from IPOS President Luigi Grassi MD

Dear Colleagues:

It is with great pleasure and honour for me, as the President of the International Psycho-Oncology Society, that I welcome you to the 9th World Congress of Psycho-Oncology in London, United Kingdom.

As IPOS, we have created a network involving all the psycho-oncology societies throughout the world to increase the impact of the mission and the aims of psycho-oncology in the several countries. Furthermore, the cooperation with many other societies involved in the care of cancer patients and their families during the several phases of illness is giving significant results in terms of disseminating the culture of psychosocial care in oncology. On this background, it has become extremely important to also increase the opportunities of training and exchange of both clinical experiences and research data. The passage from a biennial to an annual congress is the sign of this and the theme chosen for the congress, Integrating the Psychosocial to Achieve Quality Cancer Care, underlines, among the many meanings, the established role of psycho-oncology in cancer care. It also represents a step forward for IPOS, given the strong indication that it is mandatory, more than needed, to have the psychosocial dimensions as part of routine clinical care and research.

The program of the World Congress and the Psychosocial Academy in London is extremely interesting and testifies the maturity reached by our field.

I am sure you will take this opportunity and I look forward to meeting many old and new friends in London for the continuation of our projects and programs in psycho-oncology.

Best wishes,

Luigi Grassi, MD
President of IPOS