|
The covid-19 pandemic has infected close to 1,200,000 people, killed over 60,000 people and placed billions of people in quarantine, slowing down our globalized economy, raising uncertainty in our future and raising many cracks in what we call “humanity”.
Make no mistake, this is can be a very dangerous situation if not properly managed by governments, health services and especially by the different populations. Our behaviors will determine when can we have our lives back to normal, regardless of what “normal” will be from now on.
The European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI), as many other biomedical Societies was deeply affected by these events. Our Annual meeting, which would have been organized in May in Bari, Italy, by Prof. Piero Portincasa, is now postponed to September 7-9. We hope that, by then, we will be out of the fog, with new lessons from this situation. It was with a heavy heart that we decided to postpone our Annual Meeting. It was a difficult decision but the local organizer and the ESCI Council decided that it would impossible to organize the meeting as expected in May. Prof. Portincasa organized a superb program, with outstanding speakers and a very attractive program. If more changes are needed, we will communicate in due time. This is a quickly flowing situation and we may need to do more changes.
While the modern society faces one of its largest challenges ever, ESCI cannot stop. Although the Central Office is mostly working from home to reduce risks, it has been working to transfer all the logistics of the Annual Meeting from May to September, while keeping on accepting new abstracts. We still have the Young Investigator and Bioart Awards calls still open, so we are still accepting applications. At the same time, ESCI is finishing the texts for the novel calls for exploratory grants as well as other types of research fellowships that will be available for young researchers and clinicians. The official announcement would have occurred in May during the opening of our Annual Meeting. We will announce the new calls in the next ASM opening.
I would also take this chance to mention that we will go as planned elect three new Councilors for the Council. You will read more about the three candidates in this newsletter. Ballots have been sent to ESCI members.
Finally, a word of endless appreciation to all health professionals that are in the frontline of this war against a microscopic, but very dangerous, enemy, greatly risking their own health (and lives) to help others. As for the rest of us (basic scientists, for example) who are not in the frontline, we can help through contributing for a proper population behavior during a pandemic of this nature, and for spreading assertive and correct information, debunking myths and pseudo-science that do more harm than good. Ignorance and panic are as dangerous as any pandemic.
Be well and safe and see you in Bari for the next ASM. Keep following our newsletters and website for more information. Also follow the latest papers published at the European Journal of Clinical Investigation (and please, also submit your best work there).
Thank you for your attention. Together, we will beat this
Best regards
Paulo J. Oliveira, Ph.D.
ESCI President
|
