Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends –

From the Chair and Co-chair of the 34^th International Aldosterone Conference, welcome to our next annual meeting, Friday, June 13th and Saturday, June 14th, in San Francisco. The format will be our time-honored, tried and trusted mix of three Plenary Lectures (details will follow), around fifty Free Communications as oral and poster presentations, and the Young Investigators Award.

For almost forty years the IAC meetings have been the premier forum for presentation and discussion (frank and free) of new findings in the aldosterone field, from control of secretion to mechanism of action. These presentations have run the gamut of basic through translational to clinical research; more recently, in the wake of RALES, EPHESUS and the 4E trial, we have expanded our focus to include broader cardiovascular roles for adrenal steroids, enzymes and receptors including, for example, the metabolic syndrome.

Up until 2005 the meeting was closed, with attendance by invitation, and a single umbrella corporate sponsor. More recently, the meetings are open to all those interested and working in the area, from university departments, research institutes, hospitals and industry. We receive support from a variety of sponsors, to about half the extent of the previous umbrella coverage, and it is thus necessary to request a registration fee to cover the gap. For 2008 this has been set at $250 for regular registrants and $100 for students and fellows.