Congress

The WAA held its first Congress in Japan in 1986.  Since that time, the Congress has been sequentially rotated through Asia, the Americas and Europe and occurs every 2 years when possible.

Crown Prince and Princess Takamata
1st International Congress of the World Apheresis Association
May 20 – 23, 1986 Tokyo, Japan

Upcoming Joint ASFA/WAA Congress 2026

The World Apheresis Association looks forward to welcoming you to the ASFA & WAA 2026 Joint Meeting, taking place April 22–24, 2026, in Denver, Colorado.

Join international experts to explore the latest advancements in apheresis and connect with the global community.

For more information, please visit the official 2026 Congress page.

Past Congress Locations and Presidents

CongressDateLocationPresident Name, Location
IMay 20-23,1986Tokyo, JapanGerard Rifle, FRANCE
IIMay 18-20,1988Ottawa, CanadaGail Rock, CANADA
IIIApril 9-12, 1990Amsterdam, NetherlandsCees Th. Smit Sibinga, NETHERLANDS
IVJune 3-5, 1992Sapporo, JapanGioro Avanzi, ITALY
VMarch 9-12, 1994Houston, USATetsuzo Aguishi, JAPAN
VINovember 11-14, 1996Florence, ItalyFrancis S. Morrison, USA
VIIOctober 9-13,1998Sao Paolo, BrazilMauro Valbonesi, ITALY
VIIIJuly 25-28, 2000Perth, AustraliaHorst Klinkman, GERMANY
IXSeptember 7-10, 2002Paris, FranceThomas Price, USA
XMay 5-8, 2004Miami Beach, USAPeter Ivanovich, USA
XIMarch 2-4, 2007Yokohama, JapanLoic Guillevin, FRANCE
XIIMarch 17-20, 2009Buenos Aires, ArgentinaNoritoshi Shibua, JAPAN
XIIISeptember 1-4, 2010Interlaken, SwitzerlandBernd Stegmayr, SWEDEN
XIVSeptember 13-16, 2012Istanbul, TurkeyRobert Weinstein, USA
XVApril 2-5, 2014San Francisco, USAHiroshi Tsuda, JAPAN
XVIApril 27-29, 2016Paris, FrancePaolo Perseghin, ITALY
XVIISeptember 14-17, 2022Istanbul, TurkeyFevzi Altuntas, TURKEY
XVIII September 11-13, 2024 Yogyakarta, Indonesia Hans Vrielink, NETHERLANDS