The 2018 conference of the British Society for Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology (BSOMP) was hosted by the University of Sheffield from 25 to 27 April 2018 and was attended by 98 national and international delegates.

The event began on 25 April with a trainee teaching session led by Sharon White (Dundee) on the topic of exophytic lesions of the oral cavity.

This was followed by a Festschrift for Paul Speight to mark his retirement as Professor of Oral Pathology, and – for eight years – Dean at Sheffield.

The four guest speakers were Professors David Moles (Peninsula), John Marshall (Bart's), Paul Brocklehurst (Bangor) and Richard Jordan (San Francisco), three of whom were Professor Speight's PhD students. The day culminated in a dinner at the Cutlers' Hall.

The next day began with 11 oral presentations encompassing original clinical and laboratory research covering topics ranging from mutational analysis of ossifying fibromas to the use of work-based assessments in histopathology.

The coffee and lunch breaks provided an opportunity to view the 22 posters on display, with Max Robinson (Newcastle) and Adam Jones (Cardiff) judging the winners of the prizes.

After lunch, Khin Thway (Royal Marsden) gave a keynote lecture on molecular diagnostics of head and neck cancer, and then sat on the panel for the slide seminar on salivary gland tumours and tumour-like lesions which followed, where she was accompanied by Bill Barrett (QVH, East Grinstead) and chairman Ali Khurram (Sheffield).

The conference dinner was held that evening at Weston Park Museum. Delegates were able to wander among the exhibits during the drinks reception, and after dinner, Professor Speight donned his flat cap and tested the gathering with a Yorkshire-themed pub quiz.

Prizes were then presented to the four winners: Manas Dave (Dental Core Trainee Prize), Lisette Martin (Research Prize), Hannah Crane (Clinical Prize) and Polly-Anna Bury (Undergraduate Essay Prize).

Hannah Crane receives her Clinical Prize from Max Robinson

The evening ended with outgoing President Paula Farthing handing over the chain of office to new incumbent Bill Barrett.

The final day of the conference began with a keynote lecture given by Dan Lambert (Sheffield) on his group's research into cancer associated fibroblasts, the 'noisy neighbours' of the tumour environment.

After this, Keith Hunter (Sheffield) chaired a symposium on the molecular pathology projects currently underway in the UK.

There were talks on the 100,000 genomes project by Terry Jones (Liverpool), Head and Neck 5000 by Miranda Pring (Bristol), Pathology Quality Assurance in Clinical Trials by Max Robinson and the CM-Path initiative by Phil Sloan (also Newcastle).

The conference finished with the review session of the National Head and Neck EQA, chaired by Gill Hall (Guy's).

Next years conference will be in Dublin.

By Dr Bill Barrett and Hannah Crane