Murat Toruner © ECCO

Two studies received Best Investigator-Initiated Study Awards at ECCO’25. 

The first study, entitled “Low remission recapture after ustekinumab dose optimization in Crohn’s disease: results of the randomized placebo-controlled double-blind REScUE study”, was led by Peter Bossuyt and colleagues from Belgium.

Congratulations to the winners of the ECCO Fellowships and Grants awarded at ECCO’25 in snowy Berlin this year.  ECCO is investing up to EUR 1.8 million in scientific research. Learn more here about the new projects that will be supported by ECCO in 2025.  At ECCO’25, Berlin, the winners of the ECCO Fellowships and Grants programme received their certificates, presented by Fernando Magro together with Britta Siegmund.

Edouard Louis © ECCO

Dear Alessandro,

Congratulations again on your election as the new President-Elect of ECCO.

Dear friends and colleagues,

Thank you very much for your kind congratulations on my election as the new President-Elect of ECCO. It is a tremendous honour and responsibility, and I look forward to working closely with all of you to advance the mission and impact of ECCO in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) arena.

Tauseef Sharip  © ECCO

Dear ECCO friends,

Welcome to the first edition of ECCO News for 2025! We hope this newsletter finds you well and thriving as we embark on another exciting year for the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation.

 We were thrilled to reconnect with so many of you at the recent ECCO congress in Berlin, which proved to be a remarkable gathering filled with insightful discussions. As we reflect on the success of ECCO 2025, we are eager to share key highlights, including groundbreaking research, innovative presentations, and updates on our ongoing initiatives aimed at advancing the understanding and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. We are sharing the highlights from the top 15 winning digital presentations on this edition. We encourage you to reach out to the ECCO Office if there are specific topics or content you would like to see featured in our future newsletters.

Warm regards,

Mohmmed Tauseef Sharip

Spyros Siakavellas  © ECCO

Dear IBD colleagues, dear ECCO friends and family,

I hope everyone is keeping well and looking forward to all the exciting opportunities and offers that ECCO has in store for the rest of the year!

But first let me bring you back to our flagship event, the ECCO Congress which took place in Berlin, February 19 - 22, earlier this year. This being the 20th iteration of the Congress, it was an important milestone in the journey of ECCO through the years. Needless to say, it didn’t disappoint us with a record-breaking number of 1534 accepted abstracts and with a high quality educational and scientific programme it provided a great platform for sharing and exchanging valuable knowledge.

The 20^th Congress of ECCO, Berlin, Germany – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2025, held on February 19-22, 2025, attracted a total number of 8,311 delegates from 99 different countries. Since the inaugural ECCO Congress in 2006 in Amsterdam, at which there were 350 delegates, participant numbers have steadily increased, as shown in the graph below. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak in the beginning of 2020, we are happy that this high number of delegates had the chance to participate in the ECCO’25 Congress in Berlin.

Fernando Magro © ECCO

Dear Colleagues,

Dear ECCO Family,

As we look back on the 20th Congress of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO), held in Berlin from February 19 to 22, 2025, I am deeply grateful and proud for all that we have accomplished together. Centred around the theme "Sustainability in IBD and beyond", the Congress underscored our shared commitment to fostering long-term strategies in IBD care. The scientific programme featured a rich and varied selection of sessions, covering the latest advances in IBD care, innovative monitoring tools and sustainable surgical practices. In addition, collaborative sessions, such as the ESGE–ECCO joint discussion on endoscopy, highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in achieving sustainable patient outcomes.

Dear ECCO friends and family,

Welcome to this interesting discussion with Dr. Tian Hong Wu first author of the exciting paper “Natural History of Crohn’s Disease Leading to Intestinal Failure: A Longitudinal Cohort Study from 1973 to 2018”. We had a great talk highlighting the most important aspects of her seminal work but also about the relevance of intestinal failure as a serious complication of Crohn’s disease, the opportunity to prevent it and how the latest developments in treatment and follow up in IBD might help this.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Spyros Siakavellas

ECCO News Associate Editor

Ignacio Catalán-Serra © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

Welcome to a new interview with the National Representatives!

This time, Germany´s turn, one of the leaders in IBD in Europe. We had the pleasure to talk with Raja Atreya and Dominik Bettenworth in a wide-rage conversations covering aspects on the current status of IBD care in Germany, current Research Projects of the German IBD Society, collaboration with ECCO and potential areas of improvement.

Lastly, we exchanged impressions on the advancements in the pathophysiology of IBD, a look into the future of IBD and to the ECCO 2025 Congress in Berlin.

We hope you enjoy it!

Ignacio Catalán-Serra
ECCO News Associate Editor

Bram Verstockt is well known to many in ECCO and the wider IBD Community. He is a gastroenterologist at the University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, Assistant Professor at KU Leuven and outgoing chair of Y-ECCO and he isn’t yet 40! A proponent of precision medicine and intestinal ultrasound, and a great collaborator and friend, we discuss his life and career in this month’s Y-ECCO Interview Corner.