It is our great privilege to announce that Armenia will host its first-ever EFI Training and Educational Meeting this year. The event will take place in the nation’s capital, Yerevan, during November 18 and 20.
Some 3,000 years old, Yerevan is celebrated as one of the region’s most dynamic cultural centers. A crossroads of commerce, education, and the arts, the capital city features a wealth of museums, galleries, concert halls, restaurants, cafés, and jazz clubs, all immersed in a cosmopolitan vibe straddling East and West.
Yerevan, which is known as The Pink City for the local tufa stone used in many of its architectural gems, also offers visitors easy transportation locally and to Armenia’s numerous historic sites. The capital is linked to the world through Zvartnots International Airport, a short flight from many European and regional cities, with service provided by several major airlines.
Armenia is about the size of Belgium and is dotted by wonderfully preserved temples, cathedrals, palaces, and other antiquities. The country is also home to the Stone Circle of Karahunj, a prehistoric observatory that predates England’s Stonehenge. Most tourist destinations in Armenia are only a day-trip away from Yerevan.
The republic is the first in the Caucasus Region and the formar Soviet Republics to have its own bone marrow donor registry, namely the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR), launched more than a decade ago. Given its broad experience — in terms of donor recruitment, research, HLA typing, stem cell harvesting, transplant facilitation, and community outreach — the ABMDR is poised to function as a regional hub, effectively helping neighboring countries initiate their own registries.
The ABMDR’s state-of-the-art Tissue-typing Lab in Yerevan is one of a few in the region and the only one to have been accredited by the EFI. In addition, the Registry has applied for JACIE accreditation for its Stem Cell Harvesting Center, also in Yerevan.
Such achievements owe considerably to the fact that the ABMDR has established a global reach, drawing donors from Armenia and diaspora communities alike. Currently the Registry includes donors from three continents and 13 countries, with its base constantly being expanded to serve patients across the world. The ABMDR is a full member of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide as well as a member of the World Marrow Donor Association and the National Marrow Donor Program.
The EFI Educational meeting in November will be dedicated to training and education in recent advances in HLA immunogenetics, stem cell and organ transplantation, and HLA-disease associations. The meeting will take place at Ani Plaza Hotel in Yerevan.
We cordially invite you to take part in this landmark event, which will help Armenia become a significant scientific bridge between Europe and the Caucasus. Join us for an unforgettable forum while you have the opportunity to soak in the unique splendor of Armenia.