Letter from the ECCO President
Silvio Danese, ECCO President
 Silvio Danese © ECCO |
Dear ECCO friends,
Summer has passed and I truly hope you had a great vacation.
We are approaching fall with great enthusiasm and looking forward to the new Educational Activities that are scheduled for the upcoming 14th Congress of ECCO, which will be held in Copenhagen in March 2019. In order to enhance competence and knowledge in IBD and patients’ care, education is one of our top priorities.
Considering the growing interest in imaging, I am happy to announce two upcoming Educational Workshops scheduled for ECCO’19: The “1st ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop” that will focus on the basics of endoscopy, ultrasound, MRI in IBD, and the “6th ECCO-ESGAR Ultrasound Workshop – Advanced”, which will be mainly devoted to technical advancement and new applications of intestinal ultrasound in the management of IBD.
An additional opportunity that will be offered to advanced fellows and junior faculty in gastroenterology at ECCO’19 will be the “17th ECCO IBD Intensive Advanced Course,” which is aimed at providing participants with a multidisciplinary broad base of knowledge in IBD.
Education is also achieved through intense, collaborative projects. The ECCO Clinical Research Committee (ClinCom) aims to stimulate the development of high-quality investigator initiated studies (IIS) in IBD, and to assist investigators who are developing these types of studies. Check out the interview with Maria Chaparro about her experience with ClinCom to know more about it.
The ECCO Congress is continuously expanding with new workshops. The “1st Guideline Methodology and GRADE Workshop” will run for the first time at ECCO’19. This will offer ECCO Members the opportunity to increase their awareness and knowledge of the GRADE clinical guideline development methodology. But of course the ECCO Congress is a moment and a place where doctors, nurses, and affiliated experts are welcomed to share IBD experience. Nurses are strongly encouraged to attend the "13th N-ECCO Network Meeting in Copenhagen".
I’d also like to call your attention on the topic of epidemiology. The role of ECCO’s Epidemiological Committee (EpiCom) is to optimize epidemiology as a toolkit to better understand, manage and treat IBD by improving patient stratification and identification of markers to predict disease course and response to treatment.
But it is not all! Indeed, in this issue of ECCO News you’ll also find reports on pouchitis—with a focus on practical points for pathologists — and on nutrition.
In this issue of ECCO News you can also stay updated on the amazing work and research that our ECCO Fellowships and Grants winners are conducting.
The clock is ticking, so be sure to check the ECCO Website to plan your schedule in advance for all the amazing courses and initiatives you’ll find at ECCO’19 in Copenhagen. It is sure to be a great success, and stay tuned - the ECCO Movie will be launched soon!