Ecraid Hosts Science Meeting and General Assemblies in Utrecht
On 2-3 February, Ecraid welcomed colleagues, partners, and stakeholders to its second Foundation Science Meeting in Utrecht, the Netherlands. 140 infectious diseases experts from academia, the private sector, and public institutions came together to exchange insights, and foster collaboration, all with a shared goal: advancing clinical research and strengthening our collective impact.
The first day’s common denominator was how to make cinical trials more efficient. The programme saw presentations across three tracks: Acute Respiratory Infections (Acute Care) led by Jake Dunning from Oxford University, United Kingdom, Acute Respiratory Infections (Primary Care) led by Chris Butler, Oxford University, United Kingdom, and Bacterial Infections led. By Jesús Rodríguez-Baño from University of Seville, Spain.
An industry lunch symposium was also held, moderated by our Ecraid Clinical Liaison Chair Oana Săndulescu from Carol Davila University, Bucharest, Romania. During the symposium, Pneumococcal vaccines were presented by an MSD representative, and Bacteriophages by a representative from Precise Health.
The second day’s focus was laid on study designs, data analysis, and epidemiology, with two tracks. The first one on Epidemiology and Data led by Evelina Tacconelli, Ecraid’s CSO from the University of Verona, Italy, and the second on Intensive Care Units (ICUs) led by Ecraid CEO Lennie Derde.
In addition to building on the inspiring discussions and exchanges from the first day, the second day’s programme included the two General Assemblies for ECRAID-Base and ECRAID-Prime. These sessions focused on defining the next steps, aligning priorities, and, crucially, exploring their sustainability.
Two keynote speaker sessions on the power of misinformation and steroid trials in (s)CAP were given by Marc Bonten (UMC Utrecht) and Kristina Rudd (Pittsburgh University), respectively.
During these two days, Ecraid also met with the Ecraid Clinical Liaisons and discussed topics on their vital role in Ecraid, how they can support Ecraid and vice versa, as well as education and ways to share knowledge.
The Science Meeting was also attended by two of Ecraid’s Young Ambassadors, who helped tremendously in sharing their ideas on how Ecraid can further share its Education activities to an early-career community, as well as collaborating with other (inter)national organisations and societies when organising courses and other educational endeavors.
