Introduction

Abstract

On my role as President of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Sarcopenia and Frailty Research (ANZSSFR), I would like to welcome you to this special issue of the Australasian Journal on Ageing. Many exciting things have happened since the creation of our Society in November 2016: our Society was officially registered together with our constitution; our council has been created and is composed of some of the most respected leaders in the field from all over Australia and New Zealand; and our membership has exponentially grown. In summary, we are now a vibrant scientific society with a great future! In November 2017, we met at beautiful Adelaide to listen to significant authorities in the field. During these two days, we had the opportunity of attending more than 40 lectures and oral presentations while also visiting a large number of poster presentations. Our Society was initially inspired by the successful International Conference on Sarcopenia and Frailty Research, which is organised in the United States and Europe. Although we have followed some of their innovative ideas, such as short duration with multiple oral presentations, we have added our touch by including a balanced program between frailty and sarcopenia, basic and clinical sciences, medical and allied health professions, and senior and junior investigators. Our independent Scientific Committee and our Local Organising Committee prepared an excellent program. The abstracts included in this supplement are a confirmation of the high quality of the presentations. Although a lot was done last year, we still have a busy agenda facing us. We are working hard to obtain an ICD10 code for sarcopenia in Australia. We are also trying to integrate sarcopenia and frailty within primary care while also providing CME activities for physicians and allied health professionals. In addition, we are getting ready for our next annual meeting in Dunedin (New Zealand) in November 2018. Sarcopenia and frailty are the two devastating conditions that affect the quality of life and functional independence of our older persons. Research on sarcopenia and frailty is still needed. I invite you to submit your abstracts to our conference in Dunedin. Only a strong network of investigators will establish a solid and very productive alliance to identify risk and to develop pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for these two diseases.