Britta Siegmund © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

As winter has turned first into spring and then into summer, a lot of activities have been taking place within ECCO and it is therefore good to have a new issue of ECCO News to keep ECCO Members up to date with the latest developments.

We have all been waiting for the update of the Guideline on Extraintestinal Manifestations in IBD. In this issue of ECCO News, Torsten Kucharzik, as GuiCom Chair, provides an executive summary that will potentially stimulate all readers to go immediately to the recently published guideline. Another highlight relating to ECCO Publications is the summary of the Topical Review on Multidisciplinary Perinatal Care in IBD, presented by Lihi Godny, who coordinated this together with Catherine Wall as a D-ECCO Initiative. Thanks to all the authors for filling this important gap!

Britta Siegmund © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

It was not only wonderful to meet all members of the ECCO family in Copenhagen, but also to have a personal exchange again. Without a doubt, all the committees and workshops have also benefited from this "traditional – in person" format, as we will see in a moment from the summary of the many activities of the Congress in this issue. First of all, however, I am delighted to have taken over the presidency from Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet and to be able to lead, strengthen and develop the ECCO family with all its activities over the next two years!

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

Welcome to the last issue of ECCO News for 2022!

In ECCO News Issue 4 our Associate Editors have continued with the second episode of a new interesting series Meet the JCC Authors where Maria Chaparro and Mette Julsgaard are discussing their recent paper in the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis titled: "Surgery due to Inflammatory Bowel Disease During Pregnancy: Mothers and Offspring Outcomes From an ECCO CONFER Multicentre Case Series [Scar Study]".

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

Research and education are priorities in the ECCO Community. Autumn is a great time for exciting new ECCO events and is the perfect time to start planning your attendance at the ECCO’23 Congress in Copenhagen – where we finally meet again in person. After two years of online Congress meetings, ECCO’23 will be hopefully again face to face, providing great opportunities for networking with ‘old’ friends and establishing new links and collaborations.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

With the summer approaching we hope you enjoy the second Issue of ECCO NEWS where you will find the preliminary scientific programme and our educational Activities at ECCO’23. As usual we offer a wide range of Workshops and Courses for IBD Nurses, surgeons, young gastroenterologists, paediatricians, scientists and allied healthcare professionals.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Family,

We missed you! Believe me, we did our best. The ECCO Office, the ECCO Governing Board and the Organising Committee had to adapt to this virus and this last minute change in the format of our congress was not easy to deal with. The educational programme was held virtually and was very successful! In the last two years, we learned that education can be done virtually and all speakers were well trained to teach using these new tools.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Family,

As you know, we are aiming that the ECCO Congress will be a physical one and that it will take place on February 16–19, 2022 in Vienna. This will be the first physical international IBD conference since ECCO 2020! We felt that we could not take the risk of losing the ECCO Spirit. ECCO is in great shape, as you will see in this issue of ECCO News.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Family,

I hope you had a wonderful summertime and could escape the pandemic for a few days. First of all, I would like to thank everybody who attended ECCO’21 Virtual - we had a stunning 6,798 participants from 104 countries. Thanks to your unconditional support, the ECCO Congress is Europe’s most important event in the field of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. With 828 accepted abstracts, ECCO’21 once again presented the latest in science.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear Friends,

I hope that all ECCO Members will be vaccinated when reading this article except maybe a few Y-ECCO Members!

This is the second issue of ECCO News this year and the 16^th Congress of ECCO is fastly approaching.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear Friends,

My first words and thoughts are for you. When we decided that ECCO’21 would be virtual, it was not an easy thing, believe me. And I know that it was probably also a big disappointment for you. However, we all have to take our responsabilities. ECCO is in our heart the most important thing, but the health of thousands of people cannot be put in danger. You will enjoy this format that will be unique and attractive, you can count on us. I really hope that it is the last time that we cannot share a beer and dance together.