Dear members,
We have been facing truly difficult times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of our Working Group members may have been personally affected, losing loved ones or colleagues. Others have been, or perhaps still are, caring for affected patients in the clinic. Labs have been closed and research projects interrupted. As summer is approaching, the situation appears to be improving but many uncertainties remain, and it may take a long time for things to go back to “normal”.
Due to the pandemic, we unfortunately had to made the difficult decision to cancel our annual EWGCCE meeting. I was looking very much forward to welcoming you all to Amsterdam in June 2020, and I know that you will share my disappointment. Given the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and its expected course in the coming months, postponing the meeting to the fall was not a realistic option. Hence, our next WG meeting will be the joint meeting with EHRA in March 2021 in Barcelona. Meanwhile, we will carefully consider other options for keeping the WG active and connected.
As you know, we recently initiated the new Scientific Exchange Grants enabling work visits to a laboratory in an institution of a different European Country. I am pleased to announce that the two Scientific Exchange Grants have been awarded to Dr Maria Fernandez-Velasco (Spain) and Dr Aurore Lyon (the Netherlands). Congratulations to both!
I wish you all a safe and healthy summer and I hope to meet you again in person in the near future.
Carol Ann Remme
Chairperson, EWGCCE