It has been a great honor for me to take over the role of ESCI president since June 2022 and is my great pleasure to address my first letter to the ESCI family.

With great satisfaction and gratitude, I am reviewing the achievement during the first semester of my presidency. It has been my pleasure to officially welcome our 3 new councilors who have been presented in the newsletter from November 2021 and who started their office after this year ASM in Bari, Italy. Leonilde Bonfrate, Paula Macedo and Mariusz Więckowski are a real enrichment for the council and I am confident that their expertise and commitment will largely contribute to the growth and success of ESCI.

Since its foundation in 1967 ESCI has been a society that unifies basic, translational and clinical researchers and supports international cooperation among and through its members. The society is also dedicated to support young professionals residing in Europe through its educational program and through the allocation of different grants. In the last years ESCI has implemented several new grants and in order to reinforce projects that support young researchers we are in the process of expanding ESCI’s training and educational program. The “ESCI academy” as the online education platform of ESCI is in process of being implemented. It will host different educational activities, such as short-courses, webinars and seminars as well as recorded webcasts. While we are planning series of free webinars that will be accessible to researchers from all other the world without membership requirement some courses will be restricted to ESCI members.

To comply to our Gender Equality Plan, the ESCI council and the Young Research Council voted during its last meeting held in Prague on 6-7 October 2022, the Gender equality-committee, which is composed of 4 members and is gender and topic-balanced. It is our pleasure to introduce to you the members of our Gender-equality-committee: From the council; Leonilde Bonfrate (woman, clinician) and Mariusz Więckowski (male, basic researcher); and from the Young Research Council; Deeksha Malhan (female, basic researcher) and Stefano Ministri (male, clinician). In addition, as a further action to support equal opportunities in science and to enhance gender equality throughout its activities, ESCI is in the process of implementing its “mentoring program”. This program is intended to prepare young scientists for a competitive academic or industrial career. Senior scientists will mentor Junior ones and in addition to the mentor-mentee partnership, ESCI's mentoring program will offer different seminars and career development trainings to improve individual key competences. We hope to recruit the first mentees in the coming months and information regarding the mentoring program will be published soon on our website.

In order to further support young researchers, ESCI will award 50 travel grants (€500+ free registration) for young researchers that are presenting their work at our upcoming ASM in Prague as well as 11 Poster Awards and 11 Oral awards.

Given the continuing extension of the ESCI projects, the council has discussed the need of extending ESCI staff and the need for a governance structure with separation of executive management and strategic board. The council has agreed in recruiting a qualified person who will act as a manager.

This year has also been a success for our flagship journal “The European Journal of Clinical Investigation”. Indeed, our journal received a new IF of 5.7. I would like to acknowledge herewith the hard work of the editor in chief Hendrik Nathoe, the deputy editor in chief Fabrizio Montecucci and the editorial board bringing our journal to the next level. The increase in impact factor from 2.7 to 5.7 within 3 years reflects not only the committment of the editorial board but also the trust the scientific community has in our journal and its mission. I am very confident that the continious growth of our journal will go hand in hand with ESCI’s expansion.

I am very proud for having a committed team of council and Young Research Council and believe that together we will join force for the realization of the planned projects and together we will make ESCI an even better society.

I also would like to thank you all for being part of ESCI.

May the holiday season fill your home with joy and your heart with love and peace. I wish you and your family a healthy and happy Christmas time.

Voahanginirina Randriamboavonjy
ESCI president

It is my great pleasure to invite you to the 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigations – ESCI’23 ASM, which will be held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, on June 7-9, 2023. The conference will be conducted in the context of the philosophical statement Investigation Vitas Conservat (Research Saves Lives).

Due to the Covid pandemic, this meeting was delayed by two years but, nonetheless or even more so, we believe that it will be successful, building on the face-to-face ASM that was held in 2022 in Bari, Italy, and bringing the ESCI ASM conferences to a new level.

Linked to latter statement, we are very happy to have the honour of hosting the Nobel Prize Winner for Medicine or Physiology for 2019, Prof. Gregg Semenza from John Hopkins University, who will deliver a keynote talk on hypoxia-inducible factor. Two more exquisite keynote talks will be given by outstanding scientists, Prof. Matthew Vander Heiden from MIT, USA, and Prof. Elizabeth Murchison from University of Cambridge, UK. We will also have the pleasure of listening to three plenary talks in the field of cardiology, diabetology and endocrinology. Thus, we are in for a real treat!

As is typical for ESCI Annual Scientific Meetings, we will run parallel symposia. Besides the ‘usual suspects’, epitomized by symposia on Mitochondrial Biology or Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases, we have added two new symposia, i.e. Reproduction Biology and Embryonal Pathology that fittingly widen the scope of the ASM.

A successful and memorable conference cannot do without social programme. We will have the traditional Welcome networking event on the first night of the ASM, and we will organize a banquet dinner in a recently renovated Villa Richter, which is a classicist building right next to Prague Castle with breathtaking views of the city and with its own winery. This St. Wenceslas winery is the oldest in the Czech Republic, reputedly dating back to the 10^th century, and tasting the produce is possible. Besides treating taste buds, we will have the opportunity to show our physical fitness, as there will be live music for listening and, in particular, for dancing.

I cannot avoid mentioning that we are living in difficult times. And I feel I ought to mention that we should not forget, while having great time in Prague, our Ukrainian colleagues, who are as hungry for new discoveries in the field of clinical sciences as we all are, but sadly are, since February 24, 2022, deprived of the possibility to conduct research. We hope that this will change soon and they will again be in the position of contributing to furthering our knowledge.

To end up, let me, from the bottom of my heart, invite you to Prague, a city in the heart of Europe, that is deeply steeped in history. I am convinced that you will enjoy the time spent in my home town, both scientifically and socially.

Jiri Neuzil

Complex problems in healthcare cannot be addressed using a single discipline, therefore we rely on interdisciplinarity to shape the future of medicine through different scientific and technical advances. Keeping this in mind, the Young Researchers’ Committee (YRC) of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) aims to increase networking among young physicians and researchers working in different fields and promote science among them.

While finalizing our doctoral thesis and studies, most of us go through this dilemma of whether to stay in academia and if yes, what could be the possible steps to achieve higher success. To help the young researchers at ESCI Annual Scientific Meeting 2022, the ESCI YRC members organized a pre-meeting session entitled “Build your way through science: how to plan a career in biomedical research” and invited two well-established professors working in interdisciplinary fields: Gemma Vilahur, PhD (ICCC-Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain) and Angela Relogio, Prof. (Institute for Theoretical Biology (ITB), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Institute for Systems Medicine, Medical School Hamburg, Germany) This pre-meeting was attended by a number of young researchers and the final part with questions and answers was really appreciated by the audience. Indeed, the two speakers clearly communicated how to think about their own’s careers either in the short or the long term, and gave extraordinary tips to help young researchers to choose their own’s path.

Whether we talk about basic or translational research, the basic understanding of clinical studies and research plays a very important role. To provide a basic background to clinical practice and studies, the second pre-meeting course entitled “Introduction to clinical trials” was organized by the ESCI YRC members at the annual meeting in Bari, Italy.

With the positive feedback received by the participants on the pre-meeting courses, the ESCI-YRC is currently planning to organize two new pre-meeting courses for the next ESCI Annual Scientific Meeting in 2023 in Prague (Czech Republic). These courses are planned to keep in mind our focus audience, i.e. basic and translational researchers. 

Spreading and communicating own results and projects is a core activity for every biomedical scientist. So, scientific writing, either grant writing or article writing, will be one of the themes of our pre-meeting courses at 2023 ESCI ASM. 

At the same time, ethical issues have gained increasing relevance in the last years, especially in pre-clinical research, following the 3R (replacement, refinement, reduction) principles. So, the next ESCI ASM will also provide an interesting debate about ethics in biomedical research.

Please stay tuned! The ESCI-YRC members will soon unveil the titles of the pre-meeting courses and the names of speakers

Each year, the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) organizes its Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in a different location in Europe. After the successful comeback to face to face meeting in Bari, Italy, the 57^th ASM will take place on 7-9 June 2023 in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

The ASM will open with the unprecedented keynote lecture given by the Nobel Prize winner for 2019, Prof Gregg Semenza. The meeting will feature state-of-the-art plenary lectures, oral presentations, poster sessions as well as pre-courses educational sessions. The motto of the 57th ASM is “Envisioning the future of clinical and experimental investigation in Europe and beyond”. Indeed, ESCI’s culture is to bring together fundamental and translational researchers as well as clinicians from Europe and worldwide with the common aim to build a solid bridge between basic research and clinical applications. The ASM will be a platform of exchange and discussion of the latest advances in science and will promote professional networking opportunities.

The 57^th ASM will again cover a broad area of research and will include diverse symposia such as mitochondrial biology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, endocrinology, Hepatology & Gastroenterology, Regenerative Medicine and Gene & Cell Therapy, Reproduction Biology, Embryonal Pathology, Personalized & Gender Medicine, Gut Microbiota and bioinformatics. As for tradition, the ASM will be closed with the multi-focus session that includes the presentations of different awards and outstanding keynote lectures.

The ASM in Prague is planned as an in-person meeting, and no virtual participation is foreseen for the scientific sessions. However, the organizing committee will adapt the meeting format according to unpredictable happening in the world and the legal requirements. 

It is our great pleasure to invite you young and senior scientists, clinicians, industry exhibits to join us in Prague. Submit your contributions and share your research with your colleagues. Together let’s shape the future of research in Europe and worldwide. 

Be part of it! Be ESCI !

Voahanginirina Randriamboavonjy, PhD
Associate professor Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
President European Society for Clinical Investigation
Head of Clinical Research, HGA Gesundheitsakademie Hessen

Registration is open via www.esci.eu.com
Abstract submission is open via www.esci.eu.com
Program can be found at www.esci.eu.com

Young Researchers Award

application deadline March 1, 2023

The European Society for Clinical Investigation will award € 1,000  (+flight+hotel) + € 500 Travel Grant, to two outstanding young investigators who have made an exceptional contribution to basic/translational or clinically oriented biomedical science in Europe.

Applicants should be below the age of 45 on April 30, 2023, and from any nationality, although they must reside in Europe at the date of the application deadline (March 1, 2023).

More info... 

BIO Art Award

application deadline April 30, 2023

The European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) invites all members and non-members to submit ORIGINAL, unpublished images related to biomedicine (basic, translational, clinical research) to the ESCI-BioArt image contest.

More info... 

Bio Art Winner 2022: Piotr Milkiewicz – Warsaw, Poland