Dear colleagues and friends,
We just completed an ECTS Board of Directors’ meeting during which important decisions regarding the future leadership of ECTS were taken. Most importantly, Anna Teti has been elected as future ECTS President. According to ECTS bylaws Anna is now President Elect and will take office as President for three years during the ECTS Annual Congress in Salzburg in 2017. Anna has been an active member of ECTS for many years and she was the ECTS Treasurer between 2000 – 2009.
I am honored to share the driving seat with Anna and I am sure that her passion and dedication will be a great addition to the leadership team and will strengthen our society. At the board meeting Anna has presented her vision for ECTS during her Presidency and we will soon share this with you.
Erik Fink Eriksen has been elected as ECTS Treasurer, following Lorenz Hofbauer who continues as member of the Board of Directors. Together with Gudrun Stenbeck who continues to serve as ECTS Secretary, Eric, Anna and myself will team up as the ECTS Executive Committee steering and coordinating the activities of our society.
ECTS is privileged to count on a large number of dedicated and committed members and we are happy to welcome Nuria Guañabens as new Board member. The following Board members have taken on specific responsibilities by leading committees:
- Claus-C. Glüer: Executive Committee and Chair of Board of Directors
- Erik Fink Eriksen: Finance Committee
- Nuria Guañabens: Training Committee
- Carola Zillikens: Professional Practice Committee
- Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch: Communications Committee
- Martine Cohen-Solal: Grant Committee
- Martina Rauner: ECTS Academy
While we welcome Anna and Nuria as new members of the Board, a special Thank You goes to Bente Langdahl and Astrid Bakker for their commitment to ECTS over the past years. ECTS would also like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation and gratitude to all the candidates who took part in the elections and the members who voted.
The newly formed ECTS Board will continue focusing on ECTS strategic priorities and since the beginning of 2016 we are proud to report on a number of achievements:
- We successfully launched, in collaboration with our European Affiliated Societies the ECTS Academy with the appointment of the first 10 elected members;
- We developed a Webinar Series primarily targeted to New Investigators and featuring winners from the prestigious European Research Council Grants;
- We improved the communications to members and stakeholders by developing a new Website;
- In the coming days you will be able to discover the new ECTS Extranet: a platform for members to network through a private area within the ECTS website;
- A Task Force is currently working to provide you with quarterly ECTS Newsletters focusing on latest science, society and congress news;
- The ECTS 2016 Annual Congress has once more delivered a successful top quality scientific programme with new focus on Cancer and Bone, Muscle and Bone;
- We strengthen relations with our colleagues from Asia and launched an East-Meets-West Programme and now ECTS has been invited by the Korean Society of Osteoporosis for a West-Meets-East Programme during International Congress of Osteoporosis in Seoul.
Beyond these achievements, we are planning to tackle additional new and exciting areas. With the support of the new Board of Directors, all ECTS members and staff, we will keep our momentum as a dynamic society with special support for and involvement of Europe’s next generation researchers. This will ensure ECTS to maintain its position as Europe’s leading society on Musculoskeletal Research.
Watch this space for more updates from ECTS and don’t forget to save the date for our next ECTS Annual Congress on 13-17 May 2017, in Salzburg.
I wish you a great summer holiday and I look forward to meeting you soon.
With kind regards,
Claus C. Glueer
ECTS President and Chair of the Board of Director