COVID-19 (March 13, 2020)

RDD 2020 and IPAC-RS in Desert Springs, California, April 26-May 1, 2020 are canceled, but we seek your help with an exciting experiment – Digital RDD 2020.  

The organizers made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel in view of the escalating risks to public health reported by numerous government agencies and healthcare organizations due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the high proportion of our delegates who are forbidden from traveling by their company, university or government policy. We recognize the huge inconvenience and financial impact of our decision on all attendees, presenters, sponsors and exhibitors, but concluded it was impossible to go ahead with the conference in its original format while conforming to best practices to mitigate the health impact of COVID-19.

RDD 2020 will not be rescheduled. RDD conferences are meticulously planned to ensure their value to scientists, clinicians, engineers, regulators and business professionals from around the world concerned with pulmonary and nasal drug product development. We cannot meet your expectations with a hastily rescheduled conference – it takes about three years to secure an excellent networking venue with enough auditorium, exhibition and room availability at a time that fits your schedule. That said, we have learned that from adversity comes opportunity - so as scientists we propose the following experimental plan and solicit your support.

Digital RDD 2020 will be our best attempt to provide our delegates with the information and ideas already developed by speakers, poster presenters and exhibitors, while facilitating interactions among Digital RDD 2020 registrants. Long before COVID-19 emerged, speaker papers and poster abstracts were in development and these are currently in publication. We plan to augment these resources with additional materials solicited from Digital RDD 2020 speakers, poster presenters and exhibitors, and make it all available online by April 26. We know eyeballs are not the same as handshakes, but we hope you will participate in this experiment designed to partially make up for the cancellation of the California Conference in Desert Springs.

We do not have all the answers yet, and ask that you give us a few days to develop our plan then contact you again. At that time, we will address various logistical and financial issues associated with cancelling RDD 2020, and making Digital RDD 2020 a success.

Stay safe and thank you for your support.

The RDD Team and the IPAC-RS Organizing Committee