To share experiences and update knowledge on the new approaches of treatment of allergic disease is the objective of the 1 st National Congress of Immunoallergology of hospitals and clinics in Hospital da Luz network of Grupo Luz Saúde, that will take place on next May 22, in a webinar platform. This will also be the first congress organized by Luz Saúde exclusively on a webinar platform and where the works will solely be followed online. “We will gather the greatest number of Luz Saúde immunoallergologists from all over the country, as well as specialists of national and international renown in different areas of this specialty”, explains Luís Miguel Borrego , director of the Centre of Allergy and Immunity from Hospital da Luz Lisboa, who presides the organization of the congress. “It will undoubtedly be a positive experience for all, in a time we need a breath of fresh air and an illusion of return to normality”, he adds, reminding that the webinar format allows the participants enrolled to put questions to speakers via chat. The use of biological agents and what’s new in different areas – such as respiratory allergy, skin allergy, drug allergy and food allergy – are the main topics of this congress, precisely under the motto of “2020: a new decade in Immunoallergology”. The clinical and immunological factors predictive of bad prognosis in patients with COVID-19 will also be approached, arising from the research currently in development at the University Hospital Charité, in Berlin. The 1 st National Congress of Immunoallergology of Luz Saúde has the scientific sponsorship of the National Association of Doctors and the Portuguese Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SPAIC), the largest national scientific association of the specialty, and will count with the participation of renowned national and international specialists. The panel of speakers of this edition includes, for instance, Alexandra F. Santos (Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital, London), Cristobalina Mayorga (University Regional Hospital of Malaga) and Paolo Matricardi (University Hospital Charité, Berlin). To talk about the work being developed in Portugal, we count with specialists from Hospital da Luz network hospitals and clinics and from other institutions, such as Manuel Branco Ferreira (Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte and president of the Portuguese Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology), Frederico Regateiro (Centro Hospitalar Universitário, Coimbra), Emília Faria (Centro Hospitalar Universitário, Coimbra), Susana Piedade (Hospital da Luz Lisboa), Cristina Lopes Abreu (Hospital da Luz Arrábida) and Luís Delgado (Medicine Faculty, Universidade do Porto). Date and schedule: May 22, 2020, 9:00-13:00 p.m. and 14:30-18:30 p.m. Enrolment and program
