Mohamad Mohty, MD, PhD, from Saint-Antoine Hospital, Paris, France and President of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), provides an overview of the sessions and themes of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the EBMT held in Valencia, Spain. The range of topics covered this year include standard and novel therapies as well as the use of stem cell transplantation for diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma and veno-occlusive disease (VOD). Prof. Mohty also talks about the novel features and innovations in the structure of the meeting, such as a session on social media and its importance for clinicians. This year, patients have been involved in the meeting and speaking in some of the sessions. Furthermore, during the session on the partnership between Pharma and Academia, stakeholders from both sides will come together to discuss how they can unite their energies, to work towards the goal of curing these diseases.