Letter from the ECCO President
Britta Siegmund, ECCO President
 Britta Siegmund © ECCO |
Dear ECCO Friends,
This is the final edition of ECCO News for 2023. It is an appropriate time to reflect on past activities and look forward to ECCO 2024 “Crossing Boarders” in Stockholm. It is worth noting that at the end of 2023, ECCO has reached a new record number of 4596 members!
The theme of the 2024 congress is “Crossing Boarders”, indicating that ECCO aims to expand its global IBD network. This issue emphasizes two initiatives: the new ECCO Global grant and the recently initiated ECCO Consensus on IBD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The 2024 congress will discuss and highlight IBD around the world, facilitating network building. The preview of the programme is available here.
ECCO is pleased to introduce the REACH strategy at the 2024 congress. The letters in REACH represent key messages, and the strategy aims to promote better, equal, sustainable, and holistic IBD care worldwide! We look forward to introducing REACH to our ECCO community in Stockholm!
All ECCO attendees who wish to learn more about Stockholm and the Karolinska are invited to join a site visit on the morning of February 21st (7:30 to 9:30 am, Karolinska University Hospital Stockholm, Solna, 17176). If you are interested, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
In fact, this is the last issue of the year; so the JCC Associate Editors continue with the next edition of the Meet the JCC Authors series. This time Ignacio Catalan-Serra talked with Joana Revés about the article Early intervention with biologic therapy in Crohn´s disease: how early is early?
I also highly recommed to watch the "Meet the Reps" Interview with Helena Tavares de Sousa and Samuel Fernandes from Portugal.
Please have a closer look at the letter from our e-learning Ambassador Pascal Juilerat.
Furthermore, this issue highlights the excellent research projects supported by ECCO grants in recent years. The topics covered include large cohort biomarker screening, intestinal mycobiome analysis, epithelial stress and its effects on for fibroblasts and neurons, the preliminary results of the STRICTURE study, the role of “matrikines” in fibrostenosis, and gut microbial markers for fatigue in IBD patients.
A range of interesting news items are part of this issue, including travel reports, an introduction to Johan Burisch as a new GuiCom member, an article by D-ECCO on the role of the IBD-Dietitian, the importance of multidisciplinary teams in clinical trials, a critical analysis of drug trials in paediatrics, and a few words on fibrosis from the pathologist point of view.
Visit the Y-ECCO corner and enjoy the interview with Mark Samaan (@Mark: a quick search revealed a number of swimming pools in Stockholm!). Additionally, take the opportunity to read the Y-ECCO literature reviews, which introduce three recent significant IBD papers.
I wish you and your beloved ones a wonderful Christmas time!
We look forward to meeting all of you at the ECCO’24 Congress in Stockholm!
Britta Siegmund