USERN Congress 2020: A Hybrid Event

The 5^th International USERN Congress has been officially started on November 7^th, 2020. The opening ceremony was held at IranMall Event and Convention Center (IMEC). The ceremony started with the messages from 22 Nobel Laureates to the USERN Congress and welcoming by Professor Nima Rezaei, founding president of USERN, Professor Shahriar Nafissi, dean of the school of medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Professor Reza Malekzadeh, vice dean of research at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Dr. Ramin Samizadeh, director of the IMEC, and Dr. Elham Fakhari. The ceremony continued with keynote lectures by Professor Ali Jafarian, former chancellor of the Tehran University Medical Sciences, Professor Amirhossein Takian, vice dean of international affairs of the school of public health, and a Nobel talk by Professor Jean Marie Lehn, Nobel laureate in chemistry.

Regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic and due to the global health protocols, the whole program of the congress has been designed in a hybrid model (synchronized virtual and in-person program). The majority of the limited in-person attendees were invited speakers, junior talk volunteers, and the organizing committee, while two separate lines of live streaming hosted the participants.

The second and third days of the congress have been designed at 12 locations with a parallel program. Junior talk, different in-person and virtual workshops, virtual and in-person Meet the Expert sessions, InnoUSERN event, U-Debate event, and U-Pharmacy event. USERN has virtually hosted another Nobel laureate, Professor Leland Harrison Hartwell, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine, as the first speaker of the second day. Furthermore, USERN has scheduled medical webinars every evening from November 7^th to November 14^th with the contribution of more than 130 international experts and scientists from more than 35 countries.

Finally, the closing ceremony and the USERN prize awarding festival was held in the IranMalls' Jundi-Shapour Library on November 10^th. At the closing ceremony, USERN has hosted 12 ambassadors who have been invited to receive the USERN prize and IFPPP prize on behalf of the winners who couldn't make it to the congress due to the pandemic.

The USERN prize is annually bestowed to young scientists in appreciation and recognition of their outstanding contribution to science without borders. This years' laureates were selected among the 13000 nominated young scientists. These nominees were evaluated by about 300 members of the USERN advisory board who all are among the top 1% scientists.

In the last section of the closing ceremony, Turkey was selected as the host of the 6^th International USERN Congress and Prize Awarding Festival and also the host of the 7^th International Festival of Paintings for Pediatric Patients (IFPPP).

So join us in Konya, Turkey, 2021!

 More Information:

https://usern.tums.ac.ir/News/New?title=International%20Festival%20of%20Paintings%20for%20Pediatric%20Patients%202020

https://usern.tums.ac.ir/News/New?title=USERN%202020%20Prize%20Awarding%20Festival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USERN_Prize

https://usern.tums.ac.ir/sitecontent/show/heart