Nuha Yassin © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

In our series of Y-ECCO corner interviews, we are adding a new flavour for 2018 by conducting a tandem interview with the IBD giants. Today, I am delighted to be joined by Ailsa Hart and Willem Bemelman, who are respectively a leading gastroenterologist and leading surgeon in the world of IBD. We have all heard them give tandem talks and look forward to finding out more about them in this tandem interview. Many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed, Ailsa and Willem. We’ll ask you similar questions and see if the answers are similar or different.

Nuha Yassin
Y-ECCO Interview Corner Coordinator

Nuha Yassin © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

This is my first Members’ Address as the newly elected Y-ECCO Chair after being a Committee Member for the past 3 years. I have succeeded Isabelle Cleynen (Leuven), who was a fantastic chair and a great friend. I had the pleasure of previously working with Tim Raine and Pieter Hindryckx, who were also exemplary in their leadership of Y-ECCO, and I am delighted to be able to keep in touch with them. Y-ECCO truly creates solid bonds and I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with past Committee Members and Chairs as well as the current fantastic Committee.

David Wilson © ECCO

The first International Symposium on Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PIBD) took place in Rome in 2006 and was hosted by Salvatore Cucchiara. It was followed by the second PIBD Symposium in 2009 in Paris, hosted by Frank Ruemmele. Both were private initiatives. After a pause while plans to alternate PIBD Symposia between venues in Europe and North America were considered, the paediatric IBD Porto group of ESPGHAN took over all organisation. This resulted in the 3^rd Symposium in Rotterdam in 2014, hosted by Hankje Escher.

Jaroslaw Kierkus © ECCO

The 13^th Congress of ECCO is behind us: So many thoughts, and important new targets for research into therapy, diagnosis and management. Everything in one place, in wonderful Vienna.

From the point of view of the paediatrician, the Congress offered insights into numerous new predictive tools. It is not surprising that research is heading in this direction, for ultimately “to know” is halfway towards “to treat”. Looking more closely at this topic: What can we predict and by what means can we predict it?

Oded Zmora © ECCO

The surgeons’ branch of ECCO, S-ECCO, has celebrated its seventh year. The most significant S-ECCO annual event is the S-ECCO IBD Masterclass, which is held in collaboration with the European Society of Coloproctology at the time of the ECCO Congress and this year attracted more than 169 surgeons, gastroenterologists and other professionals. In addition, S-ECCO is involved in numerous activities, including S-ECCO International IBD Workshops around the globe, active participation in practice guidelines for the treatment of IBD and research projects. These activities have already made S-ECCO one of the most significant surgical committees in Europe.

Oded Zmora © ECCO

The 7^th S-ECCO IBD Masterclass, the meeting of the surgeons’ branch of ECCO, was held this year on February 15, 2018 in Vienna, within the framework of the 13^th Congress of ECCO. The S-ECCO IBD Masterclass is the annual scientific forum for professional discussions on surgical aspects of the treatment of patients with IBD, emphasising the multidisciplinary approach in these patients. Each year, this unique meeting devoted to IBD surgery is attracting an increasing number of surgeons from around the globe owing to the high-quality scientific content and the opportunity for interchange of knowledge and ideas between surgeons and other professionals responsible for the care of IBD patients. 180 surgeons, gastroenterologists and other professionals from 40 countries registered for the Masterclass this year, which focused on cutting-edge IBD surgery.

Arie Levine © ECCO

This ECCO News Issue is the perfect opportunity for me to express awe and gratitude: awe for the dedicated dietitians of D-ECCO, who have accomplished so much, and gratitude to the Governing Board of ECCO, which detected this emerging need in IBD and supported its development within ECCO, allowing me to be part of the process.

Liesbeth Moortgat © ECCO

On the evening of Wednesday, February 14, 26 nurses from 17 countries across Europe participated in our yearly N-ECCO National Representatives Meeting.  

As N-ECCO Committee Member responsible for the National Representatives, Liesbeth Moortgat welcomed the attendees, and this was followed by a short round of introductions. Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Slovenia, Poland and the United Kingdom were happy to present their new National Representatives. An exchange of nurses every 2–3 years is greatly encouraged by N-ECCO, but many countries nevertheless retain the same National Representatives for more than 3 years. New people tend to mean new ideas!

Kay Greveson © ECCO

The cultural city of Vienna welcomed the participants of the 12^th N-ECCO Network Meeting this year. 

N-ECCO Chair Palle Bager (Denmark) opened the Network Meeting by welcoming 275 nurses and dietitians from across the world who share the goal of developing care for people with IBD globally. The first session focused on the role of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease nurse specialist. Isobel Mason (UK) discussed the value of the IBD nurse and how to promote the role across Europe, including how to audit your service and provide a detailed job plan. She also presented a new healthcare professional website developed by Crohn’s and Colitis UK, which has numerous resources to support the IBD nurse. 

Susanna Jäghult © ECCO

This year 92 nurses with a special interest in research participated in the 5^th N-ECCO Research Forum in Vienna. The participants were a fine mix of experienced nurse researchers and nurses new to research. The meeting itself offered a combination of plenary and interactive sessions and workshops.

The Forum was opened by Susanna Jäghult (Sweden), who co-chaired with Palle Bager (Denmark). The first session addressed practical issues in research.