ECTS Newsletter | February 2021

Your monthly news & updates

Announcements and Events

ECTS 2021 Congress

Early bird registration fees deadline: 16 March 23:59 CET.

ECTS virtual Coffee Shop

New way to bring scientists together in an informal and relaxed manner

10 February 2021, 16:00-17:00 CET

“Finding and treating rare disorders in the general bone clinic”

Register here

Featuring

Bo Abrahamsen (Holbæk Hospital & University of Southern Denmark, Denmark), Alison Boyce (NIH – Metabolic Bone Disorders Unit, Bethesda, Maryland, US), Carola Zillikens (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam)

ECTS Baristas

Bo Abrahamsen & Alison Boyce

Virtual beer and coffee will be served, …..but you have to bring yours with you!

Join us, register here and enjoy our new way to talk about science

Next ECTS Coffee Shops

1 March 2021, 12:00 – 13:00 CET: “Osteoclasts & osteoimmunology” – Register here
19 March 2021, 13:00 – 14:00 CET: “Use of antiresorptives in clinical practice” – Register here

Society’s life:

Be part of ECTS in 2021: become member of a dynamic community in the musculoskeletal field which and take advantage from a wide range of benefits. – Join or renew your membership now – View the membership benefit
Let us know if you would like to be actively involved in ECTS activities and you may be called to be part in one of our committee or action group. Complete an online form here
Board of Directors Nominations: Members of the European Calcified Tissue Society are invited to elect 3 individuals to serve on the ECTS Board of Directors for a term spanning 2021-2024 in one of the following positions:Secretary, Research Committee Chair & Clinical Science Committee Chair. Nomination deadline: 22 February 2021. Check here the Nominations and Elections procedure.

Education and Events:

ECTS 2021 Digital Congress – Live Prime Time on 6-8 May 2021 & ECTS@Home on 19-20 May, 10-11 June and 18 June 2021. Early bird registration deadline: 16 March 2021, 23:59 CET. Register here
ECTS 2021 PhD Training Course: 27-30 August 2021 in Edinburgh. Save the date, programme and registrations are available here.
ECTS 2021 Clinical Training Course: 3-4 September 2021 in Sheffield. Save the date, programme and registrations are available here.
Webinar on Osteosarcopenia: 11 February 2021 10:00am CET – Register here
Bone, Muscle & Beyond Webinars: 2021 calendar now available – Check it out & register

Other Announcements and Events :

9th eSEM – Skeletal Endocrinology Meeting, 19-20 February 2021 – Programme and Registration here
Herbert Fleisch Virtual Workshops, 15-19 March 2021: Registration is now open and will be offered to ECTS members – More info and Registration here
14th International Conference on Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Sheffield, UK, 1-4 September 2021
ICCBH Bone School, Dublin, Ireland, 29 June – 1 July 2022 – More info here
10th International Conference on Children’s Bone Health, Dublin, Ireland, 3-6 July 2021 – More info here
ICCBH New Investigator Networking Group, Spring virtual meeting, 19 February 2021 at 3:00 pm CET – Main topic: Grants, how to get your research project funded – Register through email at iccbh-ni@googlegroups.com
New webinar series on recent developments in the field of ectopic calcification, from The EuroSoftCalcNet COST Action: Join the EuroSoftCalcNet Webinar series
- 16 February 2021, 4:00 pm CET, Vascular Calcification: A Window into Mechanisms and Treatments for Age-related Cardiovascular Disease by Cathy Shanahan
- 20 April 2021, 4:00 pm CET
ERBF Webinar “Paving new roads in Rare Bone Conditions research”,18 February 2021, 4:00 – 5:30 pm CET

The Official Open Access Journal of the ECTS

20% discount on open access fee for the ECTS members

February 2021 Article Selection

Effect of periosteal resection on longitudinal bone growth in a mouse model of achondroplasia. Kaneko et al. Download PDF
Effects of diuretics furosemide and hydrochlorothiazide on CKD-MBD: A prospective randomized study. Vasco et al. Download PDF

A glimpse of the ECTS Annual Meeting 2021: Basic and Translational Programme. By Hanna Taipaleenmäki

New Year 2021 – a year of hope for many of us personally and for the societies generally. We all hope that during the year our lives will return back to the “normal” we are used to, and that we can travel and meet our families, friends and colleagues in person again. However, despite the Covid19 pandemic that put the entire world on hold, research moves forward. In fact, eventually it is scientific discoveries that will allow the entire world to return to “normal”. Therefore, it is perhaps more important than ever to keep research rolling, share discoveries and discuss newest developments in the field. This is exactly the goal of the ECTS Annual Meeting 2021 – nothing more and nothing less than to bring the most excellent science and latest clinical advancements in the musculoskeletal field into your home, office, lab, garden or wherever you decide to enjoy the virtual meeting.

The digital ECTS Annual Meeting 2021 consists of two parts, the Live Prime Time taking place on May 6th to 8th, 2021 and ECTS@Home, which will take place in May and June

ECTS Annual Meeting 2021: The highlights of Clinical Programme.

By Willem F. Lems, Clinical Co-Chair

We have worked hard to be able to offer you an exciting programme with really new topics in the arena of metabolic bone diseases. From the start there was a good collaboration between the Basic Co-Chair of the meeting (Dr. Hanna Taipaleenmaeki) and myself, which is resulting in intriguing and promising workshops on senescence and bone, osteoimmunology and bone, and sex hormones and bone. Each workshop will have a basic and a clinical lecture, which is important for better cross-talk between the basic and clinical scientists and deepening of our translational insight.

Then, in the clinical part of the programme, we have topics addressing the questions that arise from our work in the outpatient clinic. For example, we will cover the currently available diagnostics tools for bone disease in chronic kidney disease; the effects of bariatric surgery on calcium and bone metabolism; and, related to the (expected) introduction of romosozumab in Europe in 2021, we will discuss the mechanisms of action of osteoanabolic drugs and their treatment options.

Supporting patients with osteogenesis imperfecta: a brief update on the current state and initiatives for patient care. By Nick Bishop, Claire Hill and Patricia Osborne

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is the commonest inherited cause of fragility. The key feature at tissue level is the increased mineralisation density of bone tissue, resulting in bone becoming brittle. Not surprisingly the alternative name for osteogenesis imperfecta is “brittle bone disease”.

The UK Charity Brittle Bone Society, the OI Federation Europe, and the OI Foundation in the USA have all been strong supporters of and contributors to advancements in the field over the last 50 years and we hope they will continue to do so as new technologies and approaches for OI emerge.

Periosteal resection: an alternative to limb lengthening surgery? By Antonia Sophocleous

Achondroplasia (ACH) is a type of congenital skeletal dysplasia, showing short stature and disproportionately short limbs. The disorder has an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance and is caused by mutations in the FGFR3 gene. ACH is frequently associated with medical complications and patients living with this disorder are more likely to experience short stature-related unpleasant events. One treatment option for short stature in ACH is limb lengthening surgery. Although this surgery can potentially result in up to 20 cm of height gain, it may be associated with a range of possible complications.

Kaneko et al. in their recent manuscript published in the December 2020 issue of Bone Reports, evaluated the effects of periosteal resection procedure on acceleration of bone growth using a mouse model of achondroplasia (Fgfr3^ach), as an alternative treatment to limb lengthening surgery.