The opening plenary sessions were stimulating and informative.  John Ware, New England Medical Center, provided an overview of the state of the art of QOL assessment with an emphasis on future directions, including item response theory and computer adaptive testing.  Laurie Burke, Food and Drug Administration, provided an overview of the FDA's perspective on QOL in relation to evaluating new medications for QOL labeling and promotional claims.  A lively panel discussion ensued, moderated by Hugh Tilson, with invited panel members Charles Flexner, Alvin Tarlov, Marcia Testa Simonson, and Ingela Wiklund.  Various perspectives were discussed such as clinical practice, the pharmaceutical industry, and the health care system.

  Five invited speakers delivered lectures on different topics of interest to the ISOQOL membership.  David Osoba discussed what we have learned from QOL assessment within clinical trials.  Ivan Barofsky provided an overview of the contribution of the cognitive sciences for QOL assessment.  Michael Herdman discussed a new model for assessing cross-cultural equivalence of QOL questionnaires.  Eric Bass contrasted several different health state utility measures based on recent research.  All the invited lecture sessions were very well attended and we are now in the process of determining whether the text of the invited sessions and plenary presentations can be published in a future issue of Quality of Life Research.

More than 120 oral presentations were made by ISOQOL members and others throughout the 1 day meeting.

  Closing plenary remarks, delivered by Albert Wu, included a tribute to Jonathan Mann, known for his contribution to human rights and HIV/AIDS issues.  Dr. Mann, our intended closing plenary speaker, died tragically in the Swiss Air plan crash in early September.

  During the closing session, we presented awards for the best new investigator oral and poster presentations.  The award for best oral presentation by a new investigator went to K. Handley for her presentation, "One Year Differences in QOL for HIV Seropositive Men in Managed Care and Fee-for-Service Health Systems."  The award for best poster presentation by a new investigator went to S. Foster for her poster entitled, "Smoking Cessation QOL (SCQOL) Questionnaire:  Initial Evidence of its Responsiveness."  Congratulations to both k. Handley and S. Foster for their interesting research and participation in the ISOQOL meeting.

  Several innovations were introduced at the conference.  These included the opening plenary session with panel discussion, invited lecture sessions, providing ISOQOL membership with registration to non-members, and organization exhibitors. We would appreciate feedback about these innovations to assist in planning the 6th Annual Meeting.  Please email any comments to Dennis Revicki at: Revicki@Medtap.com; Rick Berzon at: Rick_Berzon@abtassoc.com; or to Jordi Alonso at: jalonso@imim.es .

  Rick Berzon and Dennis Revicki were co-chairpersons for the conference organizing committee.  They acknowledge the contribution of Neil Aaronson, Ivan Barofsky, Monika Bullinger, Margaret Rothman, Jane Scott-Lennox, Sharon Wood-Dauphinee, and Albert Wu for their hard work in making the conference a success.  A special thanks to Kristin Sanders and her colleagues at Smith Bucklin & Assoc for handling all meeting logistics.  The annual meetings continue to provide a forum for new methods and innovations in QOL assessment, and for sharing research findings and experience in international studies.  We thank you all.