The 27th International Symposium on Paediatric Surgical Research was held at the Peter Gilgan Center for Research and Learning, at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto from 21 to 23 September, 2014. This was a highly successful meeting in which 74 papers on paediatric surgical research were presented. As always, the highlight of the symposium was the Prize Session. There were ten excellent papers presented at this session. The first prize was awarded to Dr. Florian Friedmacher for his presentation on “Prenatal Administration of Retinoic Acid Upregulates Leptin Signaling in Hypoplastic Rat Lungs with Experimental Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia”. The second prize was awarded to Dr. Alejandro Hofmann for his presentation on “Increased Pulmonary Vascular Expression of Krüppel -Like Factor 5 (Klf5) and Activated Survivin in Experimental Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia”. The third prize was awarded to Dr. Yuhki Koike for his presentation on “Dynamic Pathology for Circulating Free DNA in Dextran Sodium Sulfate Colitis Mice Model”.

The International Board of Paediatric Surgical Research thanks Professor Agostino Pierro and his team for organising a highly successful meeting in Toronto.

On behalf of the Scientific Committee of the International Board of Paediatric Surgical Research