This is a final call for abstracts for the second IBS Channel Network 
Conference, which will take place from April 6-8, 2009 in Gent, Belgium, 
at the conference centre Het Pand 
(http://www.ugent.be/nl/voorzieningen/cultuur/hetpand/historiek.htm ). 
Please note in particular updated information on the invited sessions 
program, the short course program and a best student presentation award.

1) INVITED PROGRAM (MODIFIED)

- Biological versus Statistical Interactions

Invited speakers: David Clayton (Cambridge Institute for Medical 
Research, U.K.), Anders Skrondal (Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 
Norway), Tyler VanderWeele (University of Chicago, U.S.A.)

Note: Sir David Cox unfortunately had to cancel his presence at the 
conference. David Clayton has been so kind to replace him as an invited 
speaker.

- Mixture Models and Growth Curves

Invited speakers: Mario Cortina Borja (University College London, U.K.), 
Richard Silverwood (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 
U.K.), Stef van Buuren (TNO Quality of Life, The Netherlands)

- Multivariate Survival Analysis:

Invited speakers: Alioum Ahmadou (Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II, 
France), Robin Henderson (Newcastle University, U.K.), Hans van 
Houwelingen (LUMC, The Netherlands)

The conference will start on Monday, April 6 at 13h45 and closes on 
Wednesday at 12h00 with a keynote lecture given by Thomas Schiex, (INRA, 
France).

2) SHORT COURSE PROGRAM

There will be two parallel, optional short courses, free of charge, on 
Monday morning, starting at 9 am:

- `Crash Course on P-splines' taught by Paul Eilers (University of 
Utrecht, The Netherlands).
- `Competing Risks' taught by Hein Putter (LUMC Leiden) and Ronald 
Geskus (AMC Amsterdam); this course is sponsored by the Dutch region of 
the IBS.

3) CONTRIBUTED SPEAKER PROGRAM

You are invited to submit an abstract for a contributed oral/poster 
presentation through the conference website 
http://www.cvstat.ugent.be/ibs. Abstracts for contributed talks or 
posters can be submitted until February 15. Contributions may cover a 
wide range of topics, but contributions devoted to one of the topics of 
the invited sessions are particularly encouraged.

4) BEST STUDENT PRESENTATION AWARD

The Belgian region of the IBS will award a prize for the best 
presentation by a student IBS member at the conference. The prize will 
cover the travel expenses and registration costs to attend the 
IBS-meeting in Florianopolis (Brazil) in December 2010 
(http://www.rbras.org.br/ibc2010/doku.php#international_biometrics_conference). 
To be eligible for the prize, students need to become IBS member prior 
to the conference (no matter what region they come from) and, in 
addition, need to confirm before March 15 that they will participate in 
the student prize competition by sending an email to 
[log in to unmask]

5) REGISTRATION

Online registration for this conference is possible before March 15, 
2009 through the conference website http://www.cvstat.ugent.be/ibs. The 
deadline for early bird registration is February 15, 2009. Note that 
registration is necessary, also when an abstract has been submitted.

Participants should arrange their own accommodation, e.g. through the 
website: http://www.visitgent.be/ for hotels or 
http://www.bedandbreakfast-gent.be/_en/home.php for bed and breakfast 
facilities. Because the conference takes place during the mid term 
holiday, early booking is strongly encouraged. A list of hotels in the 
city center (i.e. around the shopping street `Veldstraat', which is 100 
meters away from the conference center) and in the neighborhood of the 
train station `Gent Sint Pieters' (which has a fast tram connection with 
the city center) is also provided on the conference website.

I look forward to welcoming you at the next Channel Network Conference!

Stijn Vansteelandt
Chair organizing committee

ps. Please feel free to spread this announcement.

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Stijn Vansteelandt                            Phone. ++32 9 2644776
Ghent University                                Fax. ++32 9 2644995
Dept. Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
Krijgslaan 281, S9
B-9000 Gent, Belgium          

Personal webpage: http://users.ugent.be/~svsteela
Stat-Gent CRESCENDO (consulting, data analysis projects, customized
 training, software development): http://www.statgent.org
Center for Statistics: http://www.cvstat.ugent.be
Master in Statistical Data Analysis: http://www.mastat.ugent.be 
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