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Posts from Charlotte Brierley

Read on for posts from Charlotte Brierley, one of our EBMT2019 Young Ambassadors. Along with the other candidates selected, she will be sending in posts before, during, and after the Annual Meeting to share her perspectives on the event. To go back to the Young Ambassadors page and learn more about the rest of the honorees, click the button below.

How am I getting ready for the EBMT Annual Meeting?

March 11, 2019

As I peruse the EBMT Scientific Meeting programme, I have a rapidly progressive sense of "Fear of Missing Out". Should I go the blockbuster key sessions, or branch out to embrace smaller talks with enticing titles and potentially exciting unknowns? Planning attendance at EBMT while mitigating the inevitable "FOMO" is quite a challenge.

The breadth and scale of the programme this year is more impressive than ever. There is a range of sessions from the small group "How do I?" expert sessions, to the blockbuster Presidential symposium, to cellular therapies workshops and oral and poster presentations. And of course, the statistical masterclasses that ensure the quality of research submitted to BMT remains sound! In particular, I am looking forward to hearing about ongoing research and innovation in the field of HSCT - like the results of the Phase III trial of treosulphan vs busulphan based RIC allo in AML/MDS led by Prof Dietrich Beelen in Essen, which demonstrated an overall survival benefit for treo - and look to be be practice-changing.

When I think back to my first EBMT meeting, attending as a medical student almost a decade ago (where I presented a paper in a room so empty one could hear the metaphysical crickets chirping), there are new themes and focuses which reflect how haematology has evolved - sessions on resilience, on psychological intervention, cellular therapies and transplant in low- and middle-income countries. The increased involvement of nurses, data managers, psychologists, statisticians, pharmacists, scientists and patients in designing the EBMT programme demonstrates how haematopoietic stem cell transplant has evolved to become truly multi-disciplinary, with far-reaching benefits.

The EBMT registry is a fantastic and uniquely collaborative resource for conducting HSCT research. Having recently completed a study of AHSCT for Crohn's disease, I am looking forward to attending the Autoimmune Diseases Working Party meeting, catching up on latest developments in the field without needing to "gently hassle" my colleagues to hand over data! No doubt the recipients of my many emails will share that sentiment.

From a social perspective, I look forward to reconnecting with the team of haematologists from across Europe with whom I spent a highly educational and enjoyable 5 days getting to grips with building Cox regression models during the excellent EBMT Biostatistics course in Leiden several years ago. Additionally, the trip to Frankfurt provides an excuse for me as a half-German to get my Kaffee, Kuchen and Brezel-fix - and will mark a personal milestone, as it will be the first time I leave my young daughter overnight. While a night of undisturbed sleep is almost unimaginable, I suspect even the excitement of EBMT won't stop me missing her.