Committee News

The Educational Programme of the 21st Congress of ECCO will commence prior to the official start of the ECCO Congress, and courses will take place from February 18 to 20, 2026.

In June 2023, SciCom selected a joint proposal from Shaji Sebastian (then a ClinCom Member, now a Governing Board Member) and the H-ECCO Chair, Aart Mookhoek, addressing the present and future directions of artificial intelligence (AI) in IBD at the frontiers of imaging (endoscopy, radiology, histology), big data, predictive models, drug discovery and both ethical and regulatory considerations.

During ECCO’25, the ECCO Clinical Research Committee (ClinCom) took the lead in organising two highly engaging and insightful educational sessions: the 6th School for Clinical Trialists and the 1st Educational Course for Industry Partners.

During the recent ECCO Congress in Berlin, EpiCom bade farewell to Sophie Restellini, Kristine Allin and Ravi Misra, while warmly welcoming three new members to the Committee.

The 74th ECCO Educational Workshop was held in Katowice, Poland, on April 26, 2025. Organised by ECCO Poland National Representatives Magdalena Gawron-Kiszka and Piotr Eder, the event welcomed ECCO Members eager to explore current challenges in IBD management.

One of ECCO’s most impactful contributions to the IBD Community lies in the development of evidence-based guidelines and topical reviews—critical tools that inform and guide clinical decision-making and elevate standards of care.

What drives nurses to join N-ECCO, especially when time and energy are often limited due to shift work and when association membership and travel are not supported to the same extent as for doctors? Goedele and Pearl share their inspirational outlook and motivation.

Twenty years ago, as a PhD student in epidemiology, I took courses alongside PhD students in quality research. At the time, I struggled to understand how they could draw conclusions from studies involving only a small number of patients, and I was puzzled by their scepticism toward quantitative research.

The European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) is pleased to announce the upcoming release of new guidelines on the management of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in paediatric patients, developed in collaboration with the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).

The treatment goals for Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are becoming increasingly stringent. Although not yet an official target, multiple studies have demonstrated that histological remission plays a crucial role in maintaining clinical remission, and experts emphasize the importance of comprehensive disease control incorporating histological outcomes.

Dear Y-ECCO Friends, As the days are getting longer and spring has sprung in earnest, the ECCO Congress may feel like a distant memory. However, it is not long until the abstract submission window for ECCO 2026 in Stockholm opens. “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late”, so why delay? As Y-ECCO Members, do remember that you are eligible to apply for the Best Abstract Award, so make sure your membership is up to date and get your research ready for the 2026 ECCO Congress.

Hypercoagulation after Hospital Discharge in Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis: A Prospective Study Griffiths BH, Desborough MJR, Duijvestein M et al. Clin Gastro Hep 2024.

Multimodal profiling of peripheral blood identifies proliferating circulating effector CD4+ T cells as predictors for response to integrin α4β7-blocking therapy in inflammatory bowel disease Horn V, Cancino CA, Steinheuer LM, et al. Gastroenterology 2025;168:327–43.

Harms with placebo in trials of biological therapies and small molecules as maintenance therapy in inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis Gros B, Blackwell J, Segal J, et al. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2024;9:1030–40.

Jonas Halfvarsson is a familiar name to most colleagues and a leading expert in the global Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) field. He is a professor of gastroenterology at Örebro University and a consultant gastroenterologist at Örebro University Hospital in Sweden.

The 20th Congress of ECCO, Berlin, Germany – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2025, held on February 19-22, 2025, attracted a total number of 8,311 delegates from 99 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’25 Congress in Berlin.

Dear ECCO friends, Welcome to the first edition of ECCO News for 2025! We hope this newsletter finds you well and thriving as we embark on another exciting year for the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. We were thrilled to reconnect with so many of you at the recent ECCO congress in Berlin, which proved to be a remarkable gathering filled with insightful discussions.

Dear IBD colleagues, dear ECCO friends and family, I hope everyone is keeping well and looking forward to all the exciting opportunities and offers that ECCO has in store for the rest of the year! But first let me bring you back to our flagship event, the ECCO Congress which took place in Berlin, February 19 - 22, earlier this year.

Dear Alessandro, Congratulations again on your election as the new President-Elect of ECCO. Dear friends and colleagues, Thank you very much for your kind congratulations on my election as the new President-Elect of ECCO. It is a tremendous honour and responsibility, and I look forward to working closely with all of you to advance the mission and impact of ECCO in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) arena.

Congratulations to the winners of the ECCO Fellowships and Grants awarded at ECCO’25 in snowy Berlin this year. ECCO is investing up to EUR 1.8 million in scientific research. Learn more here about the new projects that will be supported by ECCO in 2025. At ECCO’25, Berlin, the winners of the ECCO Fellowships and Grants programme received their certificates, presented by Fernando Magro together with Britta Siegmund.