The 16^th European Workshop on Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology of the Testis (European Testis Workshop; ETW) will be held on May 8^th-12^th, 2010 in the Complesso Alberghiero Biodola-Hermitage, located on the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany. The hotel is situated in the La Biodola Bay, in front of the seashore and the Tuscan Archipelago. It offers excellent congress facilities for the scheduled formal activities as well as a comfortable environment for interpersonal communications.

The meeting will follow the schedule of the previous editions. Distinguished invited scientists have confirmed their participation to contribute in both plenary lectures and the symposia (see the preliminary program). Beside the talks of the invited speakers, a number of shorter communications will be included in the symposia, selected between the submitted miniposters. Further thematic minisymposia will be subsequently programmed on the basis of the submitted contributions. All the other submitted contributions will be shortly discussed during the miniposter sessions, following the unique tradition of the ETWs, meant to favour direct participation of younger investigators. The deadline for miniposter submission will be February 28^th 2010, this will allow a timely distribution of the miniposter book to all participants before the beginning of the meeting.

The aim of the Workshop is to provide a deeper understanding of the molecular aspects that regulate germ cell biology and testis physiology. Following a Plenary Lecture on a biomedical topic of great general interest and potential for application to reproductive sciences, the symposia will focus on topics such as germ stem cells, sex determination and testis development, cell cycle and male meiosis, transcriptional and post-transcriptional control of gene expression in germ cells, non-coding RNAs in the testis, somatic cells of the testis, and sperm cell biology.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I invite the worldwide scientific community in male reproductive research to participate in the forthcoming 16^th ETW, the third of these now traditional events held in Italy, to contribute to the scientific success of the meeting.

Raffaele Geremia
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
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