Published on: 27-03-2020

Dear TIAFT friends,

Currently we all find ourselves in unprecedented and uncertain circumstances around the world and we empathize with our colleagues who have been directly or indirectly affected by Covid-19.

The slogan ‘keep calm and carry on’ has never been more relevant and we are doing exactly that with regards to TIAFT 2020 in Cape Town in November. We are forging ahead with our plans so that we will be ready to host you, whether our conference will need to be postponed or not. As TIAFT 2020 is only in November it is still too early to tell at this stage, but we hope for a positive outcome.

Many of us will remember that we have been through a postponement before, when in September 2017 the conference in Boca Raton was impacted by Hurricane Irma and as is the norm, ‘TIAFT Turned Up’ in their numbers in January 2018 instead – for a great meeting!

For almost four years now we have promised you all a memorable and rewarding conference in Cape Town and we mean to honour this pledge, but to do this we need your support:

We have amended the Registration tab on the website (www.tiaft2020.co.za), where the payment page has been temporarily removed and replaced with a Provisional Registration option until further notice. You can therefore register for TIAFT 2020 without immediate payment.

We urge you to complete your Registrations and select this option so that the TIAFT 2020 Secretariat can firstly, register the data and secondly, not have to refund and re-process these transactions at a later stage, if the meeting is indeed postponed.

Similarly, we encourage you to please continue submitting Abstracts. The International Scientific Team can then review these in good time and make their selections for our final program, notwithstanding the unpredictable situation we find ourselves in.

On a positive note, if coronavirus contingency plans mean that you are working from home, why not consider this an unexpected ‘gift of time’, so you can prepare and submit your abstract timeously? But we also recognize that some may be unable to finish research while out of their labs, so we are exploring the possibility of extending the abstract deadline.

At a later stage, once there is international, scientifically based Covid-19 clarity and we, the TIAFT 2020 Organizing Committee and TIAFT Board can make meaningful decisions, you will be informed by email and on the website regarding the way forward, processing of registration payments as well as the option to edit/withdraw abstracts if necessary. We truly hope not…

Thank you to those of you who have already registered and ‘welcome’ to those who are about to.

We remain positive, committed and determined to make TIAFT 2020 one of the best meetings ever!

Warm regards from Cape Town
TIAFT 2020 TEAM
Alicia Evans
TIAFT Regional Representative for South Africa
TIAFT2020 HOST