Dear EBMT members, friends and colleagues,
I hope that all of you have had some time of rest with your family and friends throughout the summer. My term as President of the EBMT started immediately after the end of the 48th Annual Meeting of the EBMT in Prague and, in spite of the unfortunate virtual format of the whole meeting, past EBMT President Nicolaus Kröger and myself were able to celebrate the ceremony of handling the hammer face-to-face in Barcelona. Transition periods are not always easy but with the help and commitment of the EBMT community, the already ongoing projects are moving forward in a diligent way.
Science and education are progressively transitioning back into a face-to-face format. Please, keep an eye on the upcoming 7th International Transplant Course that is coming back to its original venue in Barcelona. Novelties for this year’s course include the introduction of a specific paediatric track as well as a deeper involvement of the EBMT Trainee Committee. Additionally, do not miss the rich portfolio of EBMT Working Party Educational Meetings happening during this fall that will also be organised face-to-face. I’d also like to highlight that the 1st EBMT – China Scientific Forum on 24 June 2022, which was organised by Norbert Claude Gorin and Nicolaus Kröger with the help of the Shangai Office, was extremely successful with more than 200 virtual attendees. We are already engaged in the organisation of the second edition that will take place from 18-19 November this year. We hope you can join us at more than one of these upcoming events.
The EBMT Registry upgrading process is moving forward; Castor has gone live and trainings to centres have already started. EBMT leadership understands that communication is the basis of mutual understanding therefore we have begun to have regular meetings with representatives of national registries in order to assist the EBMT Registry upgrade and to carefully plan the next steps.
The activities of the joint EBMT-EHA GoCART Coalition – promoting patient access to novel therapies and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration regarding centre qualification, education and clinical data reporting – are progressing nicely and data coming from the 3 scientific proposals awarded in May 2021 will be hopefully be presented at the next ASH meeting in 2022. With more than 3000 CAR-T infusions registered in the EBMT Registry, EBMT and EHA are proud to announce the second call for research proposals within the Scientific Excellence Work Package of the GoCART Coalition. Please note that the deadline for submission is 30 September 2022.
The Ukrainian Crisis Assistance Program (UCAP) has been very active over the last months, hosting weekly teleconferences with representatives of the Ukrainian transplant centres and aiding the transfer of many transplant candidates that could not be transplanted in their country to EBMT centres whose patients were candidates. I am extremely thankful for all the active UCAP members for all the work they’ve done for the EBMT centres that unselfishly accepted the treatment of these patients.
Last but not least, we are working extremely hard in the Strategic Plan for the next 4 years. Science, education and accreditation, amongst other topics, are being critically reviewed in order to continue moving EBMT to a more modern, transparent and inclusive scientific society that is able to cope with future challenges.
Sincerely yours,
Anna Sureda
EBMT President