Highest Standards – The Quality Guarantee
Attending the ECTS Annual Congress enables you to stay ahead of others, distinguish science from alternative facts: you will see and hear tomorrow’s top developments presented by experts who started working on these already yesterday; no temptation to run after the latest hype after having listened to the unfazed judgement of THE top opinion leaders.
The world’s experts for face-to-face meetings at ECTS 2017
1000 knowledgeable participants will meet more than 60 invited speakers from all five continents (see speakers map attached!). One of the most popular session types is “Meet-the-Experts”. Here congress participants have a forum to ask their personal question to the leaders in the field. We will have 14 such sessions, half on clinical and half on basic science topics. One of them will cover “How to write a nature paper” and a nature Editor will be present.
Osteoporosis – addressing the core issues
Osteoporosis is the core business of most participants and the congress programme reflects the importance of this disease. Clinicians struggle with the necessity of long term treatment and how to determine in a timely fashion whether treatment is successful or failing. What happens to fragile bone when treated long term will be the theme of a first symposium. Speakers will also address the question which DXA measurement site best reflects bone strength. Resulting strategies for optimum long term treatment will be covered in a second symposium. The role of bone anabolic treatment of osteoporosis will be debated during the opening session of the congress.
Expect the unexpected! New horizons, new ideas
Each year ECTS presents focused sessions on top front runner topics and emerging concepts. This year I would like to draw your attention for example to the following topics: our “Insights from Outside” plenary lecture on “Big data and Bone” ; our symposia and workshops on Rare Diseases, Liquid Biopsies, Autophagy, Ribosomal proteins, Tendinopathy, Nerves and Bone.
New investigator programme devised by the ECTS Academy.
The multifaceted new investigator programme of the ECTS Annual Congress is unsurpassed by any other bone congress. Mentoring sessions, teaming up with EU consortia, career advice, special poster sessions, networking events, a New Investigator Lounge and much much more. And ECTS will be proud to present 10 new members of the ECTS Academy who just have been elected. If you are a new investigator in the field of musculoskeletal science and plan to make this your career destination you got to team up with your peers at ECTS 2017 in Salzburg!
Europe’s top research consortia meet the ECTS Academy and Asian partners
Undoubtedly, the most ambitious research projects these days are carried out in collaborations across Europe. Most of the dozen European research consortia in the musculoskeletal field regularly meet at the ECTS Annual Congress to exchange information and share experience. This year the session is organized by the ECTS Academy and the topic “ “What’s next in musculoskeletal research?” will be complemented by views of our Chinese, Japanese, and Korean partners in the ECTS East-Meets-West programme. And a representative from the EU will provide insights into upcoming EU initiatives.
Meet your peers, ask you peers, hear them debate
There is no better way to get new ideas than roaming the hallways of the posters, talk to the presenters. This year we will have 6 of a special new type of poster presentation sessions, named “Ask your peers”: thematically clustered poster presentations on key topics and for the conclusion the presenters will be questioning the audience. Poster interaction in reverse.
Wondering about the future role of bone anabolic drugs? In the opening ceremony we will have the ECTS/ASBMR clinical debate on: “This house believes that anabolic therapy should be first line therapy for all patients with established osteoporosis.”
Education
Let experts do the work for you: hear them present great overview lectures during Saturday’s in-depth educational programme. In two parallel strands of the programme you can listen to reviews on clinical or basic science. Make sure you arrive Friday night (explore Salzburg!) because the programme starts on Saturday morning. This part of the programme finishes with the WIN lectures: What Is New – the Year in Review, again both from a clinical and from a basic science perspective.
In the pre-congress programme on Friday we will have two parallel whole day training courses on bone biomarkers, one held in English, one in German.
Industry Symposia
Our industry partners have organized three Satellite Symposia. These are the topics:
- Hypophosphatasia in adults with pediatric onset of disease: unmet needs, challenges and opportunities (Alexion)
- Optimizing the management of osteoporosis in elderly patients (Amgen)
- Fragility fractures: using science to break the silence (UCB)
Support the Hypophosphatasie Deutschland Charity: Run for health!
For the German Charity “Hypophosphatasie Deutschland” a relay race will be organized. So help us fund raising for the charity. Bring your running shoes, form teams of 4 (2 men, 2 women), appoint a team captain, find a creative name and win the competition!
Meet your special interest group: Five Working Groups and the Fishbone Workshop
For the third year now the ECTS Congress features Working Group meetings. Here specialists can meet up with their peer group for highly interactive presentations and discussions. As in previous years, we will have a Working Group on ”Imaging of Bone Strength” for imaging and bioengineering aficionados; another on “Rheumatoid Disorders and Bone” plus the Working Group on “Epigenetics”. In addition, two new Working Groups will hold their first meeting, one on “Rare Bone Diseases” and one an “Transgenic Animal Models”. Plus, at the Fishbone Workshop the entire Friday will be devoted to this special class of animal models for bone research.
Above and beyond all of these fascinating programme topics the main reason for attending the ECTS Annual Congress is the opportunity for networking within and beyond the ECTS “family”. I am very much looking forward to seeing you soon in Salzburg!