Shaji Sebastian © ECCO

The ECCO Congress offers an ideal opportunity to learn, share and interact. This was also the main purpose of the 6th Basic ECCO: EduCational COurse for Industry, held on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. 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’. Despite the obvious challenges relating to the format and the pandemic, 34 registrants attended the course.

Isabelle Cleynen  © ECCO

This year we celebrated the 10th edition of the SciCom Workshop. What better way to do this than by looking ahead at future therapeutic IBD targets?

To set the scene, Marc Ferrante took us through the limitations of current IBD therapies, including the therapeutic ceiling, lack of information on niche indications (e.g. anal fistula, pouchitis), drugs that become available despite many remaining questions, and safety and economic aspects. However, there is a bright future ahead, with many opportunities to explore, such as the need for novel drugs with better efficacy, thinking beyond anti-inflammatory drugs, head-to-head trials, using drugs more efficiently, considering other aetiological factors, precision medicine and more.

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.

The 17^th Congress of ECCO Virtual – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2022, held on February 16-19, 2022, attracted a total number of 5,892 delegates from 103 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’22 Virtual Congress.

ECCO Congress participation 2006-2022 © ECCO

The Educational Programme of the 17^th Congress of ECCO starts prior to the official start of the ECCO Congress and courses take place from February 16-18, 2022. 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.

The Scientific Programme of the 17^th Congress of ECCO provides attendees the unique opportunity to learn from the world’s leading specialists in the field of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Held from Thursday to Saturday, February 17-19, 2022, the Scientific Programme is structured around basic science, translational medicine and clinical sessions. Additionally, it includes oral presentations of the 40 best abstracts of the Congress. The focus of all sessions is clinical practice founded on science with practical take home messages and, as every year, the congress registration fee includes access to all scientific sessions.

The Scientific Programme will be live transmitted at the time mentioned in the programme (CET). On-demand videos will be available to registered delegates until May 31, 2022.

ECCO’22 Theme: Navigating the oceans of IBD

We look forward to welcoming you at the 17^th Congress of ECCO in Vienna!

Ignacio Catalán-Serra © Ignacio Catalán-Serra

Nuha Yassin  © ECCO

Dear ECCO Family and Friends,

Welcome to our Winter edition of ECCO News. Following the very successful ECCO Virtual Congress this summer, most of us have been working hard to prepare for the 17th ECCO Congress in February 2022. We hope that this will be a face-to-face Congress in Vienna, the home of ECCO. Looking at the current projections for Covid-19 over the next few months, we certainly remain hopeful that vaccinations and wearing PPE over the winter period will allow us to meet each other in order to share IBD knowledge and allow hearts and minds to interact in the New Year.

Lihi Godny  © ECCO

As a part of the 16th Congress of ECCO, the 6^th D-ECCO (Dietitians of ECCO) Workshop was conducted virtually, with 84 participants. The workshop was divided into three sessions: (1) Science, diet and IBD; (2) Practical clinical nutrition in IBD; and (3) Panel discussion and interactive session.

Kostas Karmiris © ECCO

The 19^th IBD Intensive Course for Trainees was held virtually on July 2, one week before the ECCO Congress, as part of the educational programme.

This oldest and most established course took place once again this year, although in a virtual design, and was attended by a total of 100 physicians from 33 countries from Europe and elsewhere. The course offered a comprehensive update on IBD and provided pivotal insights into the medical management for IBD patients in an interactive manner.

Christian Maaser © ECCO

The hands-on imaging workshops have become one of the most rapidly booked ECCO Workshops in recent years as they are known to offer excellent interactivity. Participants have the opportunity to explore the potential of intestinal ultrasound (IUS) through the use of hands-on simulators and in some years even by imaging patients. In addition, there is always very interactive discussion in small groups with radiologists who are internationally well known for their expertise in abdominal imaging.

Marietta Iacucci © ECCO

In 2021 the ECCO Endoscopy Workshop reached its 7^th edition, and it has now become a mainstay of the educational activities of ECCO. This year it moved online as a fully virtual meeting and was organised by the Education Committee (EduCom).

Participating speakers and chairs: Ralf Bisschops, Belgium; Bu'Hussain Hayee, UK; Rosanna Cannatelli, Italy; Marietta Iacucci, UK, Pierre Ellul, Malta