Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that the 17th International Conference on Behçet's Disease will be held on September 15-17, 2016 in Matera, Italy under the auspices of the International Society for Behçhet Disease. The Conference, which is the major educational and scientific event on the disease, is gaining increasing popularity across the world. Matera, located in the southern Italian Basilicata region, is one of the most singular and interesting cities of Italy. Matera is internationally famous for its two extensive and ancient neighbourhoods of stone and cave dwellings, known as Sassi, that are among the oldest continuously-inhabited settlements in history. The venue of the Conference will be the Santa Anna Congress Center which is within ten minutes walk from the old city. The linear programme will include carefully selected sessions, structured around relevant basic science, translational medicine and clinical practice. These will be integrated with top oral presentations and poster sessions of accepted abstracts. In addition, the €"Meet the Expert" - breakfast session, inaugurated in the Paris 16th Conference, will also run during the 17th Conference since these give the opportunity, especially to young doctors, to share experiences with experts. Our website www. allmeetingsmatera.it/behcets/ will constantly be kept updated within information regarding the 17th Conference. I look forward to seeing you in Matera in September 2016 and on the behalf of the International Society for Behçet Disease and the Local Organizing Committee I extend you a warm welcome.

Ignazio Olivieri
President of the 17th International Conference