The 3rd International Congress on Abdominal Obesity (ICAO 2012) is a highly anticipated event that will build on the success of last year's Congress, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Congress's primary objective is to bring together medical professionals from all specialties to exchange ideas and information and raise awareness of abdominal obesity as a new modifiable risk factor which, along with traditional risk factors, plays a central role in this new concept of global cardiometabolic risk.

This relatively new Congress's innovative multidisciplinary approach has facilitated the development of a new medical paradigm, whereby complications as hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are no longer evaluated and treated in isolation.

We look forward to seeing you in Québec City, Québec, Canada, for what promises to be an exciting and cutting edge gathering of medical professionals of varied interests and backgrounds.

Québec City, always enchanting and filled with history, offers you a typical European ambience brimming with romance and joie-de-vivre. Your delegates are sure to fall under its spell.

A fortified city bustling with activity and culture, Québec City will charm you with its boutiques, landscapes, people and countless culinary delights. Surrounded by nature's majestic beauty, this city boasts a safe and exceptional quality of life.

Founded in 1608, by Samuel de Champlain, Québec City is the cradle of French civilization in America and remains the only fortified city north of Mexico. Over the years, this city has preserved and developed its rich heritage. Old Québec has in fact been added to UNESCO's prestigious list of World Heritage Sites in 1985.

The International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk is an independent, academic, multidisciplinary organization affiliated with Université Laval and located at the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec in Québec City. It is composed of two councils: an Executive Council and a Scientific Council.

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