September 2021

Autumn is well and truly upon us and as the temperature drops we continue to hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will also have a lessening impact on us. September has provided several opportunities for us to get together virtually, including the ABM and the ESPE 2021 annual meeting.

A few days ago, ESPE 2021 Online has drawn to a close. The issues we experienced with the platform on the first day were certainly disappointing. However, overall the quality of the scientific programme and the input we had from all speakers and contributers was truly inspiring. I’d like to thank all those involved for working tirelessly to ensure that that ESPE 2021 Online was a great success. In particular my thanks go to the meeting President and Vice President, Mehul Dattani and Poonam Dharmaraj and the Chair of the POC, Nils Krone.

I’d also like to say a big thank you to all those who contributed to the ABM.  Although it was not the first time we have hosted it online, it is still a very new way of updating the members on our activities and all of the speakers did a fantastic job.

Those of you that attended the ABM will know that one of the points discussed was updating the terminology used for the Secretary General and President positions. Historically, ESPE has used the term Secretary General where other societies have used President but this year it was decided that ESPE would bring this in line with the wider community. The term for Secretary General will now become President and the President will now become Annual Meeting Host (as well as the Deputy Annuay Meeting host. This will formally come into effect after the Annual meeting in September 2022 and you will begin to see these changes reflected in communications and on the website.

We have some fantastic opportunities to share knowledge during October. The second ESPE Connect Webinar is being held on 12 October on ‘A multi-disciplinary approach to Noonan Syndrome’. The webinars are free to members and non members can join for a small registration fee. The 2021 Science Symposium is also being held online and the deadline to register is 27 October. The symposium aims to promote the development of an interactive network between clinicians and researchers, helping to reduce the gap between research and patient care. It will also provide the means to disseminate new scientific knowledge in the community of paediatric endocrinology, a truly fantastic opportunity for collaboration.

There is also a great opportunity to contribute to research being undertaken by the ESPE Turner Syndrome Working Group. A new survey on male puberty induction and the availability of hormonal preparations can be found here, and we urge health care professionals involved in hormonal therapy for male puberty to contribute, your input would be a valuable asset to the study.

While 2020 was far from a normal year, ESPE still achieved a huge amount as a Society and if you haven’t already, you can view a great summary of ESPE’s year in our 2020 Annual Review. It’s been a month of reflecting on our shared trials and successes and again I have to thank everyone for their involvement.

My best wishes,

Anita

ESPE Secretary General