48 investigators attended ESCMID and Ecraid's first educational collaboration
Last week Ecraid’s first educational collaboration with the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) took place in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Over three days, the postgraduate workshop focused on how to improve clinical research in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology using better methods. Experts from Europe and beyond shared their knowledge and experience with 48 young investigators eager to conduct state-of-the-art clinical research in infectious diseases.
High-quality research begins with high-quality training, and Ecraid is committed to providing opportunities for young researchers to learn from leading experts in infectious diseases. Co-organised by ESCMID and Ecraid, this exciting workshop provided participants with tools and practical tips for phrasing a strong research question, choosing the appropriate design and methods to address it, applying advanced statistical techniques, avoiding biases, and writing an optimal report. To ensure that the material was as relevant to the participants’ work as possible, some of their own projects were used as examples.
A digital album with photos from the workshop is available here.
Motivated by curiosity
The workshop brought together 48 postgraduates travelling from as far as Turkey and Canada. Infectious diseases doctor Sean Wei Xiang Ong crossed the Atlantic Ocean to learn from some of the most accomplished clinical researchers in Europe. Originally from Singapore, he is currently doing a PhD in clinical trials at the University of Toronto.
Ghanaian doctor Elizabeth Tabitha Abbew (pictured right), on the other hand, took a short train ride from Antwerp where she is pursuing a postdoctoral degree in microbiology. She was drawn by the workshop’s utility for her current work:
"I am very excited to attend this workshop. My intention is to apply the knowledge I’ve acquired during these few days directly to my PhD project."
The participants could tailor their programme by choosing from a variety of interactive lectures from experts on diverse methodological topics, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses, pitfalls in observational studies, and advanced statistical techniques.
More than a dozen academics from around Europe and Israel shared their knowledge and experience, including Ecraid CEO Marc Bonten (Utrecht, Netherlands), Tanya Babich (Petah-Tiqva, Israel), Saskia le Cessie (Leiden, Netherlands), Mariska Leeflang (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Leonard Leibovici (Petah-Tiqva, Israel), Pontus Naucler (Stockholm, Sweden), Mette Nørgaard (Aarhus, Denmark), Mical Paul (Haifa, Israel), Luigia Scudeller (Pavia, Italy), Elske Sieswerda (Utrecht, Netherlands), Henri van Werkhoven (Utrecht, Netherlands), and Martin Wolkewitz (Freiburg, Germany).
About ESCMID
Since its founding in 1983, ESCMID has evolved to become Europe’s leading society in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases with members from all European countries and all continents. For almost 40 years, it has been an influential component in the professional lives of microbiologists and infectious disease specialists and now reaches more than 9,000 individual and 33,000 affiliated members around the world. ESCMID is based in Basel, Switzerland.