The 2019 VBF iTEAM (international) Conference was held on June 7-8, 2019 in Athens, Greece. VBF, along with the EVA (European Vascular Anomalies) Clinic of Athens, joined forces to co-sponsor the 2019 VBF iTEAM team conference. Dr. Linda Rozell-Shannon, PhD, VBF President/Founder along with Dr. Stavros Tombris, EVA Clinic Director, co-chaired the conference.
The focus of every VBF iTeam conference is to educate physicians from around the world regarding the latest information for accurately and appropriately diagnosing vascular birthmarks and anomalies in infants, children and adults. This conference was no exception. Over 80 physicians were in attendance in Athens to learn from the elite VBF iTeam. Talks included the histopathology of vascular anomalies, genetics, classification, laser, psychosocial, radiology, surgery and staging systems.
In addition to these high tech talks, there was a free diagnostic clinic in which 36 patients were seen by the top vascular anomalies experts, and, there were 32 free laser therapy sessions where patients ranged in age from infancy through adulthood.
To top off the spectacular conference, VBF hosted the first ever Think Tank Session, facilitated by Dr. Linda, PhD, in which all attending physicians collaborated in a brainstorming session to identify key facts about vascular anomalies and to propose collaborative research projects.