Time and date of session: Monday 24 April, all day, in Room 242AB
Claire Horgan, senior clinical research fellow in Paediatric BMT, CAR-T and stem cell gene therapy at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, UK, completed haematology training in the UK (FRCPath) and Nico Gagelmann, second year physician in training at the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Claire and Nico have been the EBMT Trainee Committee co-chairs since it was formally established in January 2021. This year’s meeting’s Trainee Day will be the first to be held in person.
“We are really excited to have the first in-person trainee day: three trainee-focused sessions covering different aspects of BMT and cellular therapy,” says Claire. “The first session includes a global perspective of BMT training in various regions of the world with different resources and health systems, and a CAR-T roundtable discussion.”
“The second trainee session is dedicated to paediatrics and looks at gene therapy, survivorship issues and CAR-T in paediatric patients; and then the final trainee session is all about transplant-related morbidity and mortality,” adds Nico. “The in-person element will enable sessions to be interactive and provide trainees with the opportunity to network with other trainees attending the conference.”
TD1 Trainee Day 1 - One world, different realities
TD2 Trainee Day 2 - What is cure to a child? Pediatric gene and cell therapy
TD3 Trainee Day 3 - What is transplant-related morbidity and mortality?
Claire and Nico highlight that transplant related morbidity and mortality is a really important part of the work haematologists do, and it is essential that trainees are able to understand this and discuss these issues with patients. “Ultimately the decision to perform a bone marrow transplant is about balancing risk and we have a duty to discuss openly and consider what is important to patients when talking about management options,” says Claire. “We're really grateful to have Chris Lewis, a patient advocate, able to participate and give the patient perspective in this session and we look forward to what will hopefully be a really useful and informative discussion.”
Claire, Nico and the rest of the trainee committee (many of them pictured) are looking forward to meeting many more of their colleagues in person for the first time, or reuniting with those that they have not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Being a trainee at the EBMT Annual Meeting can be quite a daunting prospect, particularly for those who have never attended big international conferences before,” says Nico. “We really want to use our trainee committee to provide a platform for trainees to integrate better and make the most of their experience,” adds Claire. “We're always happy to be approached whether for a quick chat, advice, or if people want to get involved with our committee. It's been a busy few years for us and we're looking forward to continue to grow and develop what we have started.”
As well as their duties with the Trainee Day, as a paediatrician, Claire is looking forward to the Paediatrics Day and Nico is planning to attend sessions on myoproliferative neoplasms and myeloma.
They conclude: “We're both looking forward to the conference, hearing all about the latest developments in the field of BMT and cellular therapy as well as catching up with friends.”
