Editorial - April 2021

Dear Members of our DAP working group,

First of all, we hope this newsletter reaches you in good health. With the start of the COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the entire world, we hope that life will return to normal again as soon as possible, although this will be different for each country and may not be as fast as we all hope.

This situation has obviously affected our WG activities. At present all physical meetings organized by the ESC are cancelled till the summer, and thus postponed for yet another year. Whether physical meetings can and will be organized by the ESC after summer is not yet clear. What does this mean for our rescheduled October meeting in Bad Nauheim? We have discussed the situation with the organisers. They are eager to organize a physical meeting, but do not think a digital meeting would be a good idea – and we agree. Although a digital meeting would allow conveyance of scientific data, the most important and essential component of our annual meeting is the discussions. These happen over social occasions, at the posters or during social events or even on the bus. These interactions are instrumental in leading us to new and better understandings and ideas and really are the essence of our meeting and the Working Group.

We have therefore taken the decision to cancel the 2021 edition of the DAP annual meeting; but we are focusing on delivering a strong edition for in May 2022, joint with the North American “Weinstein Cardiovascular Development and Regeneration” Committee. More details will follow in due course!

In the meantime, we are looking to organise webinars and will keep you informed.

Spring is really here now, so we should enjoy some sunshine, and everyone should get their vaccinations, so we are ready to meet again at the next annual meeting.

Best wishes,

Maurice J B van den Hoff, Bill Chaudhry and José Maria Pérez-Pomares