Issue 18 – Spring 2012

Bone and Growth Plate Working Group thE BonE and groWth PlatE WorKing groUP brings together experts in growth, calcium/phosphate metabolism and bone strength. We have recently founded a European Bone and growth Plate network to encourage discussion on supra-regional public health issues, collaborative research and audit, distribution of information on meetings and updates, and ad-hoc discussions. interested ESPE members should contact me (Wolfgang.hogler@bch.nhs.uk). in glasgow last year, our session attracted so much interest that many people had to be turned away! We have put together another exciting programme for leipzig. Please come along to our session as well as to our committee’s business meeting, and help plan activities for the coming year, both scientifically and for public health-related topics. you may also be interested in the forthcoming 3rd European Workshop in growth Plate research, vienna, austria, 5-6 July, which is organised by our member dr gabriele haeusler (http://gp2012.univie.ac.at). Wolfgang Högler Chair, Bone and Growth Plate Working Group Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology Working Group thE Pag WorKing groUP includes paediatric endocrinologists interested in improving the reproductive health of young girls and adolescents worldwide. they strive to do this by: promoting active research in reproductive-related disorders with special attention to cross collaboration between basic and clinical aspects; interacting with physicians involved in related disciplines, particularly in the development of joint projects among the ESPE membership and related societies. Each year, we organise the Pag Symposium just before the start of the ESPE annual meeting. the topic of the 2011 event in glasgow was ‘amenorrhea in adolescence’. it was coordinated by Professors lourdes ibáñez and charles Sultan, and had over 250 attendees. the forthcoming Pag Symposium in leipzig on 20 September 2012 is entitled ‘Sexual precocity in girls: a growing problem’. the Pag Working group has drafted a programme highlighting the practical aspects of the topic, and covering both the abnormalities associated with sexual precocity during childhood and the potential gynaecological alterations in adolescence and young adulthood derived from these. last year, Professor charles Sultan and dr laura gaspari finalised the details of a collaborative clinical project entitled ‘Prevalence of hyperandrogenism in adolescent girls previously treated for central precocious puberty and followed up for at least 2 years after menarche’. dr gaspari will officially present this project to the audience at the Pag Symposium in leipzig. i would like to encourage all paediatric endocrinologists interested in this field to contact us for potential collaborations and to suggest topics that they would like to see covered in future Pag Symposia. Lourdes Ibáñez libanez@hsjdbcn.org For further details about these and other ESPE Working Groups see www.eurospe.org/about/workinggroups.html. Stefan Aronson Halmstad Hospital, Halland, Sweden i aM 74 yEarS old, still working part-time as a paediatrician, now as a mentor for younger doctors entering paediatrics. i have been engaged in paediatric endocrinology since 1966, and after my thesis in 1976 i planned to join ESPE. however, i was put off seeking membership, particularly because Swedish paediatric endocrinology was considered an exclusive subspecialty then, which discouraged too many being active in the field. today Swedish paediatric endocrinology has lost its exclusiveness and is represented at all county hospitals in Sweden. For me personally it became imperative to join ESPE after having been engaged as an ESPE tutor in ESPE’s nairobi training centre for african paediatric endocrinologists. over the past 40 years i have attended many ESPE meetings. they have been a great source of knowledge through both the presentations and the many informal personal contacts. Working in a county hospital since 1979, i was alone in my interest for many years. ESPE influx helped me in my ambitions to increase the local platform for paediatric endocrinology. it has also been possible for me to present some poster data at ESPE, the most thrilling being at the last meeting in glasgow as mentor and co-author of dr Elizabeth oyenusi from lagos, nigeria, fellow of the Pan-african ESPE Fellowship at the nairobi training centre. i would encourage prospective members to join and enjoy all that ESPE can offer a paediatric endocrinologist (established or in the making)! devote yourself to paediatric endocrinology: it is a very broad subspecialty, involved in the basic process of growth and development, fundamental to paediatrics. Subspecialising in paediatric endocrinology is rewarding at all levels of paediatric work. ESPE welcomes you early in your personal career or at any stage up to an advanced university level. at this level, membership is more or less mandatory, as a part of one’s career, and ESPE will offer you advanced education, international contacts for further development, and the standards for clinical work and research in paediatric endocrinology. Khadija Humayun Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan WhilE BEing trainEd at the royal hospital for Sick children in yorkhill, glasgow, UK, i saw the support ESPE was providing for paediatric endocrinology training not only in Europe but for developing countries in africa. i always thought ESPE would be the perfect platform to seek support for developing the subspecialty in my country, Pakistan, through the networking that this forum offers. i hope to have an active role in ESPE as non-EU member, and to get ESPE to organise a support programme for Pakistan. i would also encourage any prospective member to join ESPE, to attend the meetings and apply for the various training opportunities. ESPE Working Groups Meet new ESPE members ESPE Activities 7 17th ESPE Winter School 24 February-1 March 2012, Kiev, Ukraine thE 17th ESPE WintEr School - the first to be held in Ukraine - took place in the grand admiral resort, set in a forest of tall snowy pine trees near the small town of irpin, about 20km from Ukraine’s capital Kiev. the venue was ideal, and the main conference room was beautifully decorated and just the right size for the 8 teachers and 26 students. this year our host co-ordinator was Professor nataliya Zelinskaya from Kiev, ably assisted by Professor Marina Mamenko from luhansk in southeastern Ukraine. the other members of the Winter School faculty were Professor angela hübner (dresden, germany), dr Malcolm donaldson (co-ordinator; glasgow, UK), Professor John gregory (cardiff, UK), Professor christa Flück (Berne, Switzerland) and Professor Margaret Zacharin (Melbourne, australia). We were joined by dr artur Mazur, host co-ordinator for next year’s event in rzeszow, Poland. of 54 applicants, we were able to invite 26 doctors from Ukraine, surrounding countries and beyond. the breakdown of students was: Ukraine (7), russia (5), Belarus (3), Bulgaria (2), croatia (1), czech republic (1), Estonia (1), lithuania (2), Macedonia (1), Poland (1), romania (1) and Sudan (1). as usual, the teaching was divided into plenary sessions and small group work. the faculty members tried to cover all aspects of paediatric endocrinology during the 5 days, with interactive lectures. normal growth and puberty, basic endocrinology and molecular endocrinology came early in the programme, and were followed by lectures on growth disorders, growth hormone treatment, delayed puberty and sexual precocity, adrenal insufficiency and excess, congenital adrenal hyperplasia and disorders of sexual development, thyroid disease, diabetes, obesity, calcium and bone disorders, salt and glucose balance and late endocrine effects of childhood cancer. Each student had to present a case to the plenum, which was very helpful in reinforcing the points made in the lectures. christa Flück’s evening sessions on how to do research and audit, and how to critically evaluate a publication, were very well received, and selected students presented their projects to the plenum during the last two evenings. the small group sessions included an hour and a half of teachers’ cases each day (always the most popular part of the programme!) as well as rehearsal of student cases and research projects. our much needed half day excursion on the third day was to Kiev, where our guide yuri took us round the cathedral of St Sophia, St Michael’s cathedral and the amazing Kievo-Pecherska lavra monastery complex with its museum and catacombs, the latter containing the mummies of orthodox saints! We then had a splendid evening meal in Shinok, a traditional Ukrainian restaurant. as usual there was singing (and occasionally dancing) in the evenings at grand admiral hotel. in previous Winter Schools this has tended to be either unaccompanied or with the guitar. on this occasion, however, our host nataliya Zelinskaya was able to regale us with wonderful (but often sad!) Ukrainian songs at the piano, aided by the Ukrainian and russian doctors. Feedback from the students was exceptionally good this year and we came away feeling that it had equalled the best of our Winter Schools. as always, we are deeply grateful to Ferring Pharmaceuticals and especially to their global Brand Manager Phil Boothroyd in Switzerland, for sponsoring our meetings, as they have done since the inception of Winter School in 1995. Malcolm Donaldson ESPE Winter School Co-ordinator (2008-date) Glasgow, UK ESPE Winter School 2013 RZESZOW, POLAND, 15-21 FEBRUARY the 18th ESPE Winter School sees a return to Poland, and will be held near the southeastern town of rzeszow. dr artur Mazur, our host co-ordinator, has already identified five venues, one of which will be chosen in June. We are encouraging applicants from both west and east Ukraine (most of this year’s applicants being from the east) and also from russia, the Baltic States, romania, Slovakia, hungary and Bulgaria. Future Winter Schools We are committed to holding the 2015 Winter School in tblisi, georgia, but thereafter no final decisions have been taken, although several countries have expressed interest