Dear Friends,
We’re writing with heavy hearts to inform you that we have made the difficult decision to postpone our 12th Annual International Roundtable Conference and 11th Annual Patient Day for Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) on March 8, 9 and 10, 2020 at the Luskin Center at UCLA. We will be rescheduling the gatherings for early November 2020 and we will announce exact dates as soon as possible.
We have been carefully monitoring events and announcements related to the coronavirus outbreak and like all of you, faced many uncertainties in arriving at our decision. However, because this is an international conference, and because many NMO patients are on immune suppressing therapy, we feel that postponing our conference at this time is the safest choice for all concerned. Our first priority at the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation will always be the health and well-being of our community. For more details from the CDC on best practices for prevention of the spread of the coronavirus, please click here.
Regarding travel and lodging, please note that we are doing everything we can to make these changes as seamless and easy as possible. For any rooms booked at the Luskin Center, we will ensure that your reservation dates will be changed in accordance with the updated conference dates in November. For flights, please contact your airline or travel agent to discuss your airline ticket, as it may be possible to receive a credit for future travel. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many airlines are waiving cancellation fees at this time. For those who booked through Frosch Travel, the agent plans to cancel your flights and secure a credit for future travel.
We are so disappointed to postpone our Roundtable and Patient Day but as always, the health and safety of our community is our first priority. Thank you for understanding our decision during this difficult time. We very much look forward to seeing you in the near future and deeply appreciate your time, dedication, and passion in finding a cure for NMO. We couldn’t do this without you.
With love and gratitude always,
Victoria, Bill, Ali & The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation Team