Note from the President’s Desk of NAALT

Dear Colleagues,

After much discussion and careful deliberation, the Science Committee of NAALT – WALT has made the difficult decision to move the NAALT-WALT Convention 2020 (August 6 – August 9, 2020).

Our top priority has always been the health, safety, and well-being of the scientific, medical, research and photobiomodulation community.  With so much uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic we believe that moving the conference to the Summer of 2021 is the only way to protect all of our annual convention attendees, vendors, speakers and exhibitors.  Though this decision was not easy to make, we believe it is the right one.

We know that many of you plan well ahead for the NAALT-WALT Convention and we wanted to let you know of our decision as soon as possible to allow you to make necessary changes to your schedule and travel plans.  All attendee registration fees will be applied to the rescheduled meeting in the Summer of 2021.  We will be communicating the details of this rescheduled event separately as we currently are working closely with the Marriott Convention facility staff to determine the most appropriate available dates in the Summer of 2021 to reschedule this very important meeting.

For those that may have booked travel but not yet registered, please follow-up with your travel agent or air carrier directly.  Any hotel reservations made through the official NAALT-WALT block will be cancelled by NAALT-WALT.  If you booked your hotel outside the official NAALT-WALT block you will need to follow-up with the hotel directly.  If you have any questions regarding the convention, please contact us at vbumah@sdsu.edu

While we are disappointed that we had to cancel our convention, we are exploring with the Marriott Convention Center staff all possibilities for an alternative meeting in the Summer of 2021 including virtual conference options.  We will be sending more details about this in the coming weeks.  We encourage you to visit the NAALT-WALT websites to keep up to date on the latest COVID-19 information as well as tools and resources to help you, your team, and your practice during this time.

We continue to be inspired by the strength, flexibility, and support that the NAALT-WALT community has exhibited during this crisis and we thank all of you during this unprecedented time.  Now more than ever the NAALT-WALT organization is proud to serve you and the photobiomodulation profession.  We are excited about the research that is underway to explore possible modalities of the application of photobiomodulation to assist in the care and treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Sincerely,
Terrance L. Baker, MD, MS
President – North American Association of Photobiomodulation