December 2021

Now that the year is drawing to a close, it is a good time to look back on 2021 and reflect not only on how much has continued to change, but how successfully we have been able to adapt. Many of us had hoped to return to a more comfortable sense of normality this year and although this has largely not been possible, we have been able to improve upon how we live and work in such a way that creates opportunities rather than highlighting limitations.

Moving to online events may have started as a necessity brought on by quarantine and travel restrictions, but we have also seen that for some colleagues, this has opened the doors to events that they may not have been able to attend in person. While we are keen to get back to holding physical events, we are also embracing the hybrid approach that may offer the best of both worlds to our members.

As a society, we have shown that we are agile and that our dedication to paediatric endocrinology prevails. The online schools and Science Symposium proved to be a huge success, and the Annual Meeting continued to provide high quality speaker presentations and abstracts, although we did miss the face-to-face interaction. As we are planning for our 2022 Annual Meeting in Rome, we sincerely hope to be able to offer the option of a physical congress with all of the opportunities to catch up with our colleagues again in person.

Supporting our ESPE colleagues has remained a priority throughout the year, the focus very much on providing high quality e-learning content webinars. This will continue to be the case and I encourage you to take a look at the details for the next in the Connect Webinar series, Webinar 3 – IGF-1 Deficiency –  Knowns and Unknowns , a case based symposium. Chaired by Prof. Michel Polak, the symposium will cover genetics, diagnosis and treatment of IGF-1 Deficiency followed by a panel discussion. The discussion is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with colleagues, and grow the relationships that we build upon in the future.

Make the most of the ESPE funding opportunities available to help further your career by regularly checking the details and upcoming deadlines for our available grants, which can be found on our website. We have also extended the deadline for ESPE 2022 award nominations, so if you’d like to see a colleague recognised for their clinical or research achievements, please do submit your nominations by 31 January 2022.

I hope you will be able to enjoy some relaxing, recuperative time over the festive period and that  you can spend some quality time with your families. I wish you all the very best for the remainder of 2021 and a healthy and prosperous 2022.

Anita

ESPE Secretary General