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.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear Friends,

I was hoping that the COVID pandemic would be over by the time I came to write this editorial. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The second wave has started, but there is some good news: we have the first vaccines. This means that we should all be able to meet in Copenhagen in July! I am predicting a big celebration there.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO IBD Community,

Dear ECCO Friends,

We are all facing the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The numerous virtual meetings that are held every week have helped us to realise how important real interaction is in a community, and this is especially true for ECCO. This virus has forced us to develop virtual clinics that allow our patients to stay at home and reduce the disease burden. This is probably the only benefit of the pandemic.

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO IBD Community,

Dear ECCO Friends,

During the past three months of the COVID-19 pandemic ECCO has intensively and carefully analysed measures of how to safely steer our ECCO activities through the upcoming year. ECCO would like to share some important information with you:

Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

We are going through a hard time. The first cases of COVID-19 in Europe were reported during the ECCO Congress in Vienna. The world is facing a pandemic which is not easy to treat and for which the course cannot be predicted. As IBD physicians, we are used to manage a difficult disease but not a lockdown. The ECCO spirit will help us coping with social isolation, which is the opposite of the ECCO goal. Our organization will contribute to this fight by publishing weekly interviews of worldwide experts (link to interviews) telling us how to manage our patients and how to keep moving forward during this pandemic.

Silvio Danese © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

Our annual meeting is just around the corner!

ECCO 2020 in Vienna offers physicians, researchers, nurses and dietitians the opportunity to come together and reflect on our current landscapes in order to align our activities. The meeting will feature plenary sessions, poster sessions and collateral initiatives that merge evidence and experience to empower participants by equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to provide the best outcomes for patients.

With this purpose in mind, ClinCom is organising several sessions during the upcoming ECCO Congress in Vienna, targeting clinicians, nurses and industry. The 5th Basic ECCO:EduCational COurse for Industry will aim to provide a state of the art introduction to IBD for both corporate and non-corporate members and the 7th ClinCom Workshop will focus on two hot topics in the world of IBD clinical trials.

Silvio Danese © 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’20 Congress in Vienna.

Considering the success of the ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop at ECCO’19, I am happy to announce that the 2^nd ECCO-ESGAR Basic Imaging Workshop will be held during ECCO’20. The focus of this workshop will be the latest imaging technologies in IBD.

Education can also be achieved through intense collaborative projects. The 18^th ECCO IBD Intensive Advanced Course will take place during ECCO’20 and will provide a multidisciplinary broad base of knowledge in IBD. Moreover, the 5^th IBD National Study Group Meeting will also be held during ECCO’20, enabling investigators to have their studies challenged and promoted at the same time.

Silvio Danese © ECCO

Dear ECCO Friends,

One of the ECCO Community’s major aims is to create a network for data sharing that will allow researchers to address clinical issues through collaborative projects. Epidemiology research is one of the tools of value in filling the gaps in our knowledge of Inflammatory Bowel Disease through the collection of large prospective datasets. One highlight of this issue of ECCO News is the summary of the “hot topics” in Epidemiology as they emerged from ECCO ‘19.

As soon as the ECCO’19 Congress in Copenhagen ended, our community immediately started to work towards ECCO’20. A major goal of ECCO is to offer young gastroenterologists, surgeons, paediatricians, IBD Nurses, allied healthcare professionals and scientists an opportunity to improve their knowledge through courses and workshops. In this issue, you will find an overview of the Educational Activities at ECCO’20 and the preliminary Scientific Programme.