As autumn continues, so do the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on patients, families, our members and our activities. Council continues to monitor the ongoing situation in order to adapt plans accordingly and ensure we are providing relevant and appropriate support to our members.
Members of our Clinical Practice Committee and ESPE Working Groups have been working hard to produce a range of resources and information regarding paediatric endocrine conditions and COVID-19. These can be found in our ESPE COVID-19 Hub on our website. As well as our original position statement, you will find ESPE-produced patient and clinician information, links to third-party resources, as well as information on how you can contribute to the development of knowledge by reporting cases via the e-REC. I encourage you to visit this useful page and thank all involved in its creation.
We are currently discussing our plans for ESPE Liverpool in May 2021 and will be ensuring that provisions are made for a safe, enjoyable and informative meeting. Inevitably, those plans are likely now to involve virtual or hybrid options and we will keep you informed as plans develop. I’m grateful to everyone who is putting in extra work in this area.
Meanwhile, we are approaching ESPE Connect Online 2020 in November, when a host of experts will provide talks, as well as interactive question and answer sessions, to expand and update your knowledge in the absence of our usual annual meeting. You can register now for free, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to support your continued professional development.
Thank you to all of you who attended our virtual Annual Business Meeting earlier this month when we welcomed our new Council members: Martine Cools (Belgium) as Science Committee Chair, Indi Banerjee (UK) as Communications Committee Chair and Stefano Cianfarani (Italy) as President-elect. Agnès Linglart was also re-elected as Strategic and Finance Committee Chair. Our thanks to them all for their commitment to our Society and also to Faisal Ahmed, Asma Deeb and Anders Juul who have now left Council. ESPE relies on the time, expertise and hard work of our volunteer Council and committee members, to whom we are extremely grateful.
We would love to hear from you if you would like to oversee ESPE’s involvement in the PETCA programme (Paediatric Endocrine Training Centres for Africa), alongside a colleague from ASPAE (African Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology). We are currently recruiting for a PETCA Joint Coordinator to manage a new phase in the programme’s development, as Ieuan Hughes steps down following many years of coordinating this successful programme. You can view details of the vacancy here and we request applications by 9 November.
In case you did not see via our social media channels or website, I’d like to draw your attention to a new Pseudohypoparathyroidism guideline that has been recently published. Several ESPE members were involved in its development and it has been endorsed by our Clinical Practice Committee.
We continue to support paediatric endocrinologists at all stages of their career and are currently welcoming applications for the following grants:
Early Career Scientific Development Grant
Visiting Professorship of Rare Diseases
Undergraduate Achievement Award (once ESPE Liverpool abstracts open for submissions)
Today (30 September) is also the deadline for applications to our renowned Clinical Fellowship scheme.
We look forward to receiving your applications so that we can support your careers and the development of the field.
As always, you can find the latest information, dates and deadlines on our website and we welcome your feedback.
Best wishes,
Anita
ESPE Secretary General