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The annual BuSineSS MeeTing WaS helD on Monday 26 September between 1600 and 1730 in the Scottish exhibition and conference centre, glasgow. after approval of the minutes of the previous annual Business Meeting in 2010, the Secretary’s annual Report for 2011 was presented. Reports on several eSPe activities were presented that we will include and update our members in the forthcoming newsletters throughout the year, as the editorial board of the newsletter. olle Söder’s position as the chair of the Strategic and Finance committee ended in 2011 after a successful term of 6 years and the only candidate for his replacement was anita hokken-koelega from the netherlands. She was elected with a great majority of the votes from the eSPe members. We congratulate anita and wish her the best. Sixty-seven ordinary members were accepted for membership at the annual Business Meeting. We congratulate all the new members and welcome them to our Society. Balloting for Presidency and Venue for the 2016 annual Meeting took place between gothenburg, athens and Paris, and Paris was the champion of the cities with Jean-claude carel the President of the 2016 meeting. We congratulate Jean-claude carel. There were wonderful presentations for the 51st annual eSPe Meeting, 20–23 September 2012, leipzig , germany by Wieland kiess and for the 9th Joint Meeting on Paediatric endocrinology, 19–22 September 2013, Milan, italy by Franco chiarelli. The scientific programme for the leipzig meeting is already mostly prepared and will follow the scientific outlay of the glasgow meeting. We are sure that the meeting in leipzig will be highly appreciated by the eSPe members. Paul czernichow, the editor-in-chief, reported that the impact Factor of hormone Research in Paediatrics has increased to 2.044 and thanked all the members for their contributions. changes to the eSPe membership application process and the eSPe membership fees were approved by the members and will be presented to our members on the eSPe website and also in the email alerts sent to all members every month. The most emotional part of the meeting was the farewell talk of Franco chiarelli, the former Secretary general of the eSPe and his handover to lars Sävendahl, the new Secretary general elected in 2010. Franco chiarelli was given a standing ovation and over a minute’s applause from all members present, reflecting the fantastic job that he has done during his seven years as Secretary general. as the editorial Board, we also thank Franco chiarelli for his initiative and support for the newsletter. We also wish the best to lars Sävendahl as the new Secretary general of eSPe.
DeaR eSPe MeMBeRS, FRienDS anD colleagueS, i am deeply grateful to now have the privilege of serving eSPe as its new Secretary general. Many thanks to Professor Franco chiarelli who served eSPe as Secretary general for 7 years. at the annual Business Meeting in glasgow, eSPe members recognised Professor chiarelli with a standing ovation. Personally, i would like to thank Professor chiarelli for his commitment to make the transition of all duties as smooth as possible. Thanks Franco! My first ambition will be to focus on the eSPe membership. i will approach all members and eSPe committees to get their input regarding the future direction of our Society. Based on this a strategic plan will be formulated. i will keep you updated. New ESPE members i would like to give the 67 new eSPe members approved at the annual Business Meeting in glasgow a very warm welcome to the Society. The new members are from 33 different countries, and 30 of them are from outside europe. it is now obvious that eSPe has become a truly international society. Council elections i would like to congratulate Professor anita hokken-koelega, who was elected as the new eSPe Treasurer. Professor hokken-koelega knows eSPe well after having previously served on eSPe council. She has proven administrative skills being the director of the Dutch growth Research Foundation. Many thanks to Professor olle Söder, who has now completed a 6-year term as eSPe Treasurer. During these years, Professor Söder has taken many important actions preparing eSPe for the future. ESPE 2016 During the annual Business Meeting in glasgow the location and presidency for the eSPe annual Meeting in 2016 were decided. applications had been received from athens, gothenburg, and Paris. in a secret ballot, Paris was successfully elected as the venue, with Professor Jean-claude carel as President in 2016. congratulations to Professor carel! For more information on all of our activities, please visit the eSPe website at www.eurospe.org or contact me via the eSPe Secretariat at [email protected].
The following prizes were awarded at ESPE 2011 in Glasgow. Congratulations to all of the winners! ESPE President Poster Awards Beverly Hird and colleagues (Manchester, uk) Do undiagnosed cases of salt wasting congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) contribute to infant mortality in the absence of newborn screening? P1-d1-166 Artur Bossowski and colleagues (Białystok, Poland) Relationship between T regulatory cells with phenotype CD4+CD25 high and anti-thyroid autoantibodies in children with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. P1-d3-187 Emma Burgos Ramos and colleagues (Madrid, Spain and athens, oh, uSa) Central regulation of serum proteomes by leptin and insulin. P1-d1-240 Yonatan Crispel and colleagues (kriat Tivon, israel) Empirical testing of the Infancy Childhood Transition (ICT): theory of adaptive life history P1-d1-309 Ulla Sankilampi and colleagues (kuopio, Finland; Turku, Finland and london, uk) Osteocalcin is a determinant of the postnatal testosterone surge in infant boys. P1-d1-332 Hormone Research in Paediatrics Prize oRiginal PaPeR Su-Jin Lee for ‘Estrogen prevents senescence through induction of WRN, Werner syndrome protein’ lee et al. 2010 Hormone Research in Paediatrics 74 33–40 noVel inSighTS FRoM clinical PRacTice Anitha Kumaran for ‘Congenital hyperinsulinism due to a compound heterozygous ABCC8 Mutation with spontaneous resolution at eight weeks’ kumaran et al. 2010 Hormone Research in Paediatrics 73 287–292 This issue also includes important news from the accreditation and Syllabus Subcommittee, which has been redesigned under the umbrella of the education and Training committee of eSPe. The short term aim of the subcommittee is to update the paediatric endocrine training syllabus and at long term to make plans for accreditation procedures in countries included in eSPe. last but not least, we thank Professor Jesús argente who has been the editor of the newsletter for several years and the editorial board for their hard work in establishing the newsletter in sustaining its quality. We, as the new editorial board, will do our best to continue the quality of the newsletter and try to enrich it with feedback from all members. Please send us your comments, including items that you want to see included or improved in the newsletter. Yours sincerely, Professor Feyza Darendeliler Editor, ESPE Newsletter Editorial continued from page 1 laRS SÄVenDahl WiTh aniTa hokken-koelega eDiToRial BoaRD indi Banerjee, gabriele Martos-Moreno Henning Andersen Prize for best abstract BaSic Science Dr Claire Hughes (london, uk) Mutations in GPX1 and NNT, encoding antioxidant defence genes, cause familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD) Fc2-87 clinical Science Dr Julia Galhardo (Bristol, uk) Serum levels of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) are positively associated with acanthosis nigricans in obese adolescents Fc1-81 Julia galhaRDo claiRe hugheS chRiS kelnaR WiTh BeVeRlY hiRD Outstanding Clinician Award Professor Isis Ghali (cairo, egypt) nilS kRone helen ST
ESPE Working Group Updates
The 25Th eSPe SuMMeR School took place at Blairquhan castle, ayrshire, Scotland, 22–24 September 2011, prior to the 50th annual eSPe Meeting in glasgow. Since 1987, the eSPe Summer School has brought together paediatric endocrinologists in training and academic clinicians and scientists. This year’s focus was growth, thyroid, disorders of sex development and type 1 diabetes mellitus. The interactive sessions used a voting system that was introduced last year and were a resounding success again. There were opportunities for active discussion between students and faculty, and the presentation of cases, one from each student, allowed the sharing of ideas and discussion of difficult cases. another important aim of the Summer School is to encourage networking between students around the world. The 26 fellows who were selected on their merits represented 17 countries from 4 continents. The faculty and the Summer School organising committee did a great job and their contributions are much appreciated. Thanks are especially due to Dr Scott Williamson, the local organiser. eSPe is grateful for the support of Ferring Pharmaceuticals a/S after four years on the Summer School Steering committee, Professors Juliane leger and Moshe Philip came to the end of their term and were replaced by Professor abdullah Bereket and Dr nick Shaw. The 26th Summer School will be held at Schloss oppurg, 17–19 September 2012, before the 51st annual eSPe Meeting in leipzig. application forms and further information can be found on the eSPe website. The application deadline is 1 February 2012. Please encourage your fellows to apply!
The eSPe clinical FelloWShiP PRogRaMMe aims to promote clinical management expertise and clinical research through a training programme in a european clinical centre of excellence, and thus help to develop, achieve and maintain the highest standards of paediatric endocrine clinical care worldwide. clinical Fellowship awards support the training of paediatricians in paediatric endocrinology for whom the possibilities for such training are insufficient and introduces them to clinical research. The training period is between 3 and 12 months and is provided by european centres with a high reputation in clinical paediatric endocrinology. The clear expectation is that, on completing their Fellowship, Fellows return to develop paediatric endocrinology clinical care in their home countries and institutions. Since its inception (with the award of one Fellowship in 1993), the Programme has been generously supported by Merck Serono. For the last three years, matching support has been provided by eSPe itself and, as confirmation of the importance that eSPe attaches to promoting the development of patient care in paediatric endocrinology worldwide, the value of this eSPe support was further increased from 2009/10. as eSPe increasingly develops into a global organisation, Fellowships have been awarded in recent years not only to trainees from eastern (predominantly) and Western europe, but also africa, india, Pakistan, the Middle east, china and South america. in 2009/10 and 2010/11, Fellowships were awarded to applicants from china, Russia, ukraine, Finland, italy, Spain, Switzerland, Romania, greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, uzbekistan, Jordan, Morocco, algeria, Tunisia, libya, Brazil, kenya, nigeria, india and Pakistan. at the 50th eSPe annual Scientific Meeting in glasgow this year, 15 awards were made to applicants from Sudan, nigeria, Russia, Venezuela, abu Dhabi, georgia, egypt, cameroon, india and Brazil – eSPe is now the global society for paediatric endocrinology. Professors chris kelnar and Professor Jan lebl (Secretary) have now stood down as, respectively, chair and Secretary of the clinical Fellowship committee after many years of service and replaced by Dr Rasa Verkauskiene (lithuania) and Dr Violeta iotova (Bulgaria) – both former Fellows themselves. Ten applications were received for membership and this interest in the committee’s activities is very encouraging. The newly elected committee members are Dr Marek niedziela (Poland) – another former Fellow, and Dr khalid hussain (uk). last year, Dr iotova (on behalf of the committee) sent out a questionnaire to former Fellows in order to assess the efficacy and impact of the clinical Fellowship programme 15 years after its start. There has been a 67% return rate and, amongst the findings, it is clear that the overwhelming majority have found their clinical Fellowship valuable or extremely valuable for their career and the many are now consultants, lecturers or professors in their home institutions or countries. all have attended subsequent eSPe meetings (one third with presentations), 90% are actively involved in research and 90% have maintained clinical/research contact with their host centre. it has been the intention of the committee to promote more formal post-Fellowship scientific meetings in selected participants’ home countries. after the success of the first such workshop in Poland, a second meeting took place in kaunas, lithuania, ably organised by Dr Rasa Verkauskiene, in June 2011. The faculty consisted of Professor Paul czernichow, Professor Jan lebl, Dr Rasa Verkauskiene and Professor chris kelnar. Many former eSPe clinical fellows attended from Belarus, estonia, latvia, lithuania, Poland and Russia. Future meetings are planned in strategic venues to attract past Fellows from other countries, initially in the Middle east and Bulgaria. although the clinical Fellowship Programme continues to be very successful, some practical difficulties are increasing: there are very high costs associated with staying in some host centres, Fellows are drawn from increasingly diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds and with sometimes very different experiences and needs, and there are worsening visa restrictions for non-eu applicants with a general tightening of border controls (not least in the uk). These and other issues will continue to provide challenges in the years ahead. i am most grateful to those clinicians and centres who host Fellows (in some cases on a recurring basis). The committee is always pleased to hear from further centres who would be willing and able to host Fellows, and to provide further information to potential hosts and applicants for clinical Fellowships from anywhere in the world. The deadline for applications is 31 May each year and awards will continue to be made at the annual eSPe Scientific Meeting the following September. Details about the Programme and how to apply are on the eSPe web site (www.eurospe.org/awards/awards_clinicalfellow.html). if i may end with a personal note: i have always felt that activities such as the clinical Fellowship Programme go to the heart and soul of what an organisation like eSPe should be about and i would like to thank my colleagues on the committee for their invaluable support. i am proud to have hosted many Fellows myself and that, under my chairmanship, eSPe has facilitated educational opportunities for trainee paediatric endocrinologists, initially from eastern europe but now including all parts of europe, africa, the Middle east, South america, india and china, as eSPe itself has developed to become the premier paediatric endocrine society worldwide. i know that the future of the clinical Fellowship Programme is in safe hands. Professor Chris Kelnar, Outgoing Chair, ESPE Clinical Fellowship Committe
DeaR colleagueS, an accReDiTaTion and syllabus subcommittee has been formed under the umbrella of the education and Training committee (eTc) with the aim of continuing and revitalising the paediatric endocrinology training studies which were started back in 1995, with Peter hindmarsh as the chair. The first aim of this group is to update the paediatric endocrinology training syllabus which was last updated in 2001 (as per the website). an update of the syllabus should revise, restructure, and amend the current guidelines in light of present practice and new developments, should evaluate the feasibility of the current tutorial system approach in view of national differences in paediatric training, and should also focus on minimum but obligatory requirements. We would like to ask you: 1. whether you are using the eSPe paediatric endocrinology training syllabus in your country; 2. whether you have a different syllabus at a national level; 3. whether you have a separate training programme for general paediatricians with a particular interest in paediatric endocrinology and 4. whether you have a separate syllabus for diabetes? We would appreciate your collaboration. Please respond by 31 January 2012 to: [email protected] Regards, Professor Feyza Darendeliler, Chair, Accreditation and Syllabus Subcommittee Professor Jan Lebl, Chair, Education and Training Committee
Making A Difference
<one oF The MaRVellouS, but still underutilized, opportunities that eSPe offers is the Sabbatical leave Programme, sponsored by eli lilly. The aim of this programme (established in 1993) is to enable eSPe members to undertake a ‘sabbatical’ to perform research in another institution. This provides a unique opportunity for scientific renewal, new research development and establishment of collaborative links. We believe that such sabbaticals can substantially contribute to the scientific career, and thereby improve the quality of paediatric endocrine research, education and patient care in europe. The eSPe Sabbatical leave committee will grant two to three positions per year (up to €25 000 per recipient). The sabbatical leave will typically extend over a period of between three and twelve months. The grant is a contribution towards the cost of travel, housing, academic and other items related to the sabbatical leave. consideration will also be given to support requests for contributory payments to other persons covering clinical, teaching and other duties during the leave of absence. What are the requirements of the host institution? The sabbatical leave should be spent in a place other than the applicant’s own institution. The host institution should be of known excellence in the field of research selected by the candidate. it should deliver a statement indicating acceptance of the candidate, and that appropriate facilities will be made available to undertake the research. it is expected that collaborative work will continue after the sabbatical leave is completed. Any other demands after the sabbatical? The only demand is a short report to be submitted to the Sabbatical leave committee within three months of completing the Programme. not a demand, but rather an opportunity, is that recipients shall be invited to present the scientific results in a minireview in Hormone Research in Paediatrics. How to apply Detailed information on the deadline and procedures can be found on the eSPe website. Finally… a period in another institution can be enormously stimulatory for your scientific development, and may have a big impact on the rest of your working life! use the opportunity
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