On behalf of the University of British Columbia, the British Columbia Cancer Agency, and the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Vancouver and the 8th IPA World Congress of Photodynamic Medicine.

The broad range of abstracts combined with our international panel of distinguished plenary speakers has allowed us to create a program that essentially covers the entire spectrum of photodynamic medicine today. We are truly grateful for the tremendous support we have been fortunate to receive from the PDT community.

In addition to the scientific program, we continue the IPA tradition of fabulous social functions where you will have the opportunity to network informally with long-time colleagues as well as new friends. We look forward to seeing you at both the reception and the closing banquet.

Finally we would like to recognize and thank our sponsors. It is through their generous support that a meeting such as this can be convened. We thank you for taking the time to join us in Vancouver, and look forward to an exciting exchange of science and medicine.

Welcome to Vancouver!