Christian Maaser  © ECCO

At ECCO 2020 two ultrasound workshops were held. The 2^nd ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop was devoted to the basics of intestinal ultrasound (IUS) and MRI. In this workshop, gastroenterologists from ECCO who are experts in intestinal ultrasonography and radiologists from the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) who are experts in IBD jointly provided delegates with a full immersion in imaging in IBD. 

Shaji Sebastian © ECCO

The mission of ClinCom is to promote investigator-initiated studies among ECCO Members. The Committee welcomes submissions from investigators and national study groups and evaluates and critically appraises the quality, feasibility and practicality of each study proposal. The 5^th IBD National Study Group Meeting, held on February 12 during the ECCO 2020 Congress, featured presentations from five investigators on proposals for high-quality collaborative studies which will be suitable for running across national study groups.

Uri Kopylov  © ECCO

This year’s 7^th ClinCom Workshop focussed on two main topics. The first session was devoted to sequencing and combination of different IBD treatments for IBD. The speakers addressed the possible biological implications of drug sequencing and the mechanistic changes in the inflammatory pathways.

Krisztina Gecse © ECCO

Peter Bossuyt © ECCO

The ECCO Congress offers an ideal opportunity to learn, share and interact. This was also the main purpose of the 5^th Basic ECCO: EduCational COurse for Industry, held on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.  The course aimed to provide corporate and non-corporate members who have recently entered the field of IBD with an introduction to IBD, focussing on the clinical essentials and ‘need-to-knows’. 104 participants from 23 countries attended the course.

Sebastian Zeissig  © ECCO

One of the main goals of ECCO is to promote IBD-related basic and clinical research as well as to foster interaction and productive collaboration among European research groups working in the IBD field. To achieve this goal, ECCO supports numerous funding schemes with different scopes including ECCO Fellowships, Grants, and Travel Awards.

Ignacio Catalán-Serra © Ignacio Catalán-Serra

Nuha Yassin  © ECCO

Dear ECCO friends,

We hope you are all well and are keeping safe in the current climate.

It was great to see so many friends at the 15^th ECCO congress in Vienna, which was a great success. We have a series of updates for you including a synopsis of the winning digital oral presentations, an introduction to the “Talking Global IBD” ECCO initiative and an introduction to the new ECCO App. Please get in touch via the ECCO Office if you’d like to see/read specific content in the next series of eNewsletters.

Best Wishes

Nuha Yassin

Ignacio Catalan-Serra

ECCO News Associate Editors

7,307 delegates attended the 15^th Congress of ECCO in Vienna

The 15^th Congress of ECCO – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2020, held on February 12-15, 2020 in Vienna, Austria, attracted a total number of 7,307 delegates from 102 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 the year, we are happy that this high number of delegates had the chance to participate in the ECCO’20 Congress.

ECCO Congress participation 2006-2020 © ECCO

Henit Yanai © ECCO

The 18th ECCO IBD Intensive Advanced Course, Vienna 2020

The European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) brings together national groups and individuals interested in different aspects of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). One of ECCO’s core aims is to promote education in the field of IBD and thereby improve the quality of care for IBD patients throughout Europe.

The annual ECCO IBD Intensive Advanced Course was initiated in 2003 with the general aim of providing advanced fellows and junior faculty in gastroenterology with a multidisciplinary broad base of knowledge in IBD. The course consists of lectures and workshops dealing with controversial areas of IBD pathogenesis, diagnosis and management, delivered by leading experts in the field of IBD.

2nd ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop 

Marietta Iacucci  © ECCO

Christian Maaser © ECCO

In 2020 the Educational Programme at the ECCO Congress will again include two combined workshops devoted to IBD imaging. The first will be centered on basic endoscopy, ultrasound and MRI while the second will focus on advancements in intestinal ultrasound. Both workshops will be possible thanks to the extensive cooperation of gastroenterologists with experience in intestinal imaging from ECCO and our partner societies (ESGAR).

The 2^nd ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop will educate attendees in how to make a precise diagnosis and how to better direct the therapeutic management of IBD patients using the latest imaging technologies. It is designed for gastroenterologists, endoscopists, surgeons, paediatricians, pathologists and other interdisciplinary medical experts interested in diagnostic imaging and endoscopy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease(s) (IBD). The course has been successful and highly requested in the past few years, and we have decided to run the course twice on the same day this year to enable more participants to attend.

The educational programme of the 15^th Congress of ECCO starts prior to the official start of the ECCO Congress and courses take place from February 12-14, 2020. These activities target ECCO’s different interest groups including young gastroenterologists, surgeons, paediatricians, pathologists, IBD Nurses, dietitians, allied health professionals and scientists.

An overview of these activities can be found below. Please note that courses/workshops may run concurrently. As these educational activities have a limited capacity, we encourage you to register at your earliest convenience.

We look forward to seeing you in Vienna!