The Scientific Activity Reports
Following the challenging COVID-19 lockdown period, EBMT has intensified its commitment to continually advance the delivery of excellence in scientific research and education, both in the traditional but necessary face-to-face setting and in the online format. The number of publications from the EBMT Working Parties (WPs) and their corresponding impact factors have steadily increased over the years, together with the participation in international meetings.
The EBMT Educational Programme is a cornerstone in disseminating knowledge, promoting best practices, and fostering professional growth in the fields of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapy (CT). The newly established EBMT Educational Task Force is thoroughly working towards providing a wider and updated portfolio on the latest trends and advancements in these rapidly evolving fields which will be accessible worldwide, not only through the WP educational meetings and mid-size events, but also through the new online educational library and e-learning resources.
Moreover, the collaborative effort of over 200 experts in the fields of HCT and CT has resulted in the highly anticipated thorough revision of the EBMT Handbook, a vital resource for transplant physicians worldwide, slated for open-access digital PDF availability after April 14, 2024.
A significant milestone for EBMT was achieved in August 2023 with the official launch of its new registry platform, marking the culmination of years of collaborative effort and unwavering dedication. Thus, EBMT is endeavoring to enhance the scientific rigor of its research through a comprehensive review and refinement of the data collection forms for all diagnoses, treatments, and follow-ups.
Since 2016, EBMT and JACIE developed a benchmarking project for EBMT transplant centres, crowning in a recent publication in June 2023 that reflects on the project's evolution and identifies future challenges in establishing a modern, robust, and comprehensive benchmarking program across new EBMT Registry systems. This very important project was brilliantly led by Riccardo Saccardi that sadly passed away this last February.
Significantly, the recently established Practice Harmonisation and Guidelines Committee of EBMT successfully conducted the first annual workshops in September, aimed at standardizing HCT and CT clinical practices while harmonizing procedures within EBMT. These efforts resulted in four high-level publications already available, with two more forthcoming, all to be accessible via open access at the EBMT educational library. Furthermore, harmonisation of definitions is crucial for a collaborative work and data sharing between international registries. Thus, an international collaboration of EBMT with ASTCT, CIBMTR, and APBMT culminated in a recent open access publication delivering harmonized definitions on hematopoietic recovery, graft rejection, graft failure, poor graft function, and donor chimerism in allogeneic HCT, along with a joint effort between EBMT and CIBMTR to uniformly capture necessary information on endorsed terms in both registries’ data collection forms.
More and exciting projects ahead! Looking forward to a stimulating and scientifically enriching 50th Annual Meeting of the EBMT in April 2023 in Glasgow!
