Abstract

It is a pleasure to welcome you to Puducherry for the 35 annual conference of the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRACON). Puducherry formerly known as Pondicherry, and fondly called Pondy is located at the eastern coast of India overlooking the Bay of Bengal. It is approximately 150 km south of Chennai Airport. The venue for IRACON 2019 is the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate MedicalEducation and Research (JIPMER). JIPMER is one of the oldest medical schools of India established by the French Government in the year 1823 as École deMédicine de Pondichérry. The medical school became Dhanvantri Medical College at the time of de facto transfer of Pondicherry to Government of India.Dhanvantri Medical College was renamed JIPMER in the year 1964 and was conferred the status of an institute of national importance in the year 2008.