City of Toronto Welcomes ISTSS

Wanda L. Smith, Program Deputy Toronto, Canada

The ISTSS 21st Annual Meeting is coming to the lovely city of Toronto, November 2–5, 2005, at the Westin Harbour Castle. This highly anticipated international event carries the theme of “Dissemination: Transforming Lives Through Transforming Care” and will concentrate on spreading the knowledge gained through years of research and experience in the field of traumatic stress studies.

We in Toronto want to take this opportunity to introduce ISTSS members to the city and all it has to offer. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is home to more than 4 million people and host to 16 million visitors each year. Situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, the city’s scenic waterfront stretches for more than 40 kilometers. As one of the world’s most culturally diverse urban centers, Toronto is a dynamic city and offers something for everyone. City parks and parkland acreage number in the thousands, with the Toronto Islands readily accessible by a short ferry ride from downtown. It is renowned for its arts and entertainment. It also is the gateway to Ontario’s vineyards—internationally award winning wines. And Toronto is home to the CN Tower, the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

Toronto’s historic downtown features an elegant skyline that stretches from the waterfront to the most well known intersection of Yonge and Bloor. Toronto offers a variety of attractions:

• Live jazz entertainment
• The National Ballet, Toronto Symphony, Canadian Opera Company and numerous theaters
• The Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario and many smaller art galleries conveniently situated downtown
• Shopping in Yorkville, small eclectic boutiques of Queen Street West, or the antique shops of Church Street
• Local breweries and fine dining

There is something for everyone in Toronto! So when you plan your trip to the ISTSS annual meeting, be sure to schedule some extra time to see the sights of the city.

Annual Meeting Highlights

Take a glimpse of preliminary plans for the annual meeting:

• Invited keynote speakers: Edna Foa, PhD, and Charles Nemeroff, MD.
• Featured Symposia: “Revolutionized Lives: Survivor and Provider in Dialogue” with Chris Burke, founder and president of “Tuesday’s Children,” and Marylene Cloitre, PhD, director of the Institute of Trauma and Stress at NYU, highlighting stumbling blocks and successes encountered during treatment dissemination efforts in New York City following 9/11.
• Pre-Meeting Institute on the mental health impact of the Southeast Asian Tsunami: Elisa Triffleman, MD, chair, with B. Hudnall Stamm, PhD, Livia Iskandar-Dharmawan Dra., MA, coordinator, Pulih Foundation-Center for the Prevention & Intervention of Psychotrauma, Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Panel and networking session for students applying to internships and postdoctoral programs with trauma training. Directors of training may contact [email protected] to participate in the networking session.