Y-ECCO Members’ Address
Robin Dart, Y-ECCO Committee Chair
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Robin DartDear Y-ECCO Friends,
During the recent 20th Congress of ECCO, I found myself listening to David Bowie’s Low, a classic album written in Berlin well before the artist’s 35th birthday. So nearly 50 years on from that record, it was fitting that the finest work in IBD, including so many contributions from Y-ECCO Members, should be presented in the city. Of the 1534 accepted abstracts, 12 oral presentations, 52 digital oral presentations (DOPs) and 457 poster abstracts were delivered by Y-ECCO Members – over a third of the content! Alongside our five Abstract Award winners, Y-ECCO Members also collected seven DOP Awards, six ECCO Grants and one Young Researcher Award. It is clear that Y-ECCO is both the future and the present of ECCO, so please do continue the hard work and get involved!
A cornerstone of the Y-ECCO Offering is the annual Y-ECCO Science Workshop, and this year was the 11th edition. The workshop continues to go from strength to strength, showcasing research undertaken by Y-ECCO Members alongside a fantastic programme of invited speakers. This year we welcomed 135 attendees to what proved an interesting and lively event. You can read more about it in the report by Y-ECCO Committee Members Virginia Solitano and Florian Tran in this edition of ECCO News.
The Y-ECCO/ClinCom Survey is now well established, with one proposal being chosen at each Annual Congress of ECCO. The survey is intended to provide an opportunity to address unusual, interesting or overlooked questions in IBD across nations and healthcare systems. This year, the proposal by Vivica Dharmadasa, entitled “Management of Pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease”, was selected. The survey will remain live until 15 April, and at the time of writing we had received 236 completed responses. Please do complete the survey and encourage your circle of contacts to do so, too. We will put out another call for the Y-ECCO/ClinCom Survey later this year, and Y-ECCO Members with great ideas should not be shy about submitting a proposal! With JCC Plus launching later this year, there will also now be a prime place to publish your findings.
Alongside our congress activities, we are looking forward to the return of the Y-ECCO Mentorship Forum for its 3rd edition in Vienna in June of this year. This biennial event offers an opportunity to rub shoulders with other Y-ECCO Members, the Y-ECCO Committee and senior members of the wider ECCO Family as we come together for two days of roundtable discussions, interactive lectures and teamworking exercises. We have an excellent line-up of experts and attendees, and if the last two mentorship forums are anything to go by, this forum will be a cracker. Although applications are closed this year, do stay alert for calls for the next forum.
Y-ECCO is not just about the events. There are various ways to get involved throughout the year, and the Y-ECCO Literature Reviews in ECCO News are a great place to start. I recommend that every Y-ECCO Member, however junior, gets involved and writes a review. We will support you in doing this, so why wait? Please do get in touch with Y-ECCO Committee Members Maria Manuela Estevinho and Florian Tran if you are interested in writing one.
The wind of change cannot be avoided, and we bid a fond farewell to outgoing Y-ECCO Chair, Bram Verstockt, who has been a fantastic committee member, chair and friend – it’s been an absolute pleasure. Welcome also to Florian Tran, who has joined the Y-ECCO Committee, starting his term in Berlin.
Robin Dart