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The ECTS Annual Congress has a first class reputation for top quality in musculoskeletal research. Congress participants select this meeting for the following reasons:

• Chance to interact with colleagues and speakers
• Great topics
• Excellent place to present & discuss my research
• Quality of speakers

On 15th December the Board of Member States of European Reference Networks (ERNs) voted to approve 23 ERN proposals submitted under the first wave.

BOND, the European Reference Network on Rare Bone Diseases is one of them.  BOND combines skeletal dysplesias and metabolic bone diseases and its application has been coordinated by the ISDS, ESPE, ICCBH, ESE and ECTS.

European Reference Networks (ERNs) create a clear governance structure for knowledge sharing and care coordination across the EU. They are networks of centres of expertise, healthcare providers and laboratories that are organised across borders. A centre of expertise could be a clinical team, a medical centre or a hospital and must be formally accredited by its Member State.

Due to the low prevalence and complexity of rare diseases, as well as to the nature of small and scattered patient populations, the system of ERN that is being established can bring real added value to rare disease patients. By ensuring doctors have the most recent and expert knowledge possible, they will be better informed to make decisions on how to adapt treatment and care pathways. This in turn contributes to improvements in clinical outcomes and the quality of life of people living with a rare disease.

The full list of approved ERN applications is available via the official European Commission webpage. Background on European Reference Networks can also be found on the Eurordis website.

You can read more about BOND in a presentation from Dr Luca Sangiorgi, ERN Coordinator.

The ERC Scientific Council has announced to take preliminary steps to re-introduce the Synergy Grant funding scheme in 2018.

Synergy Grants are open to a small group of principal investigators and their teams to bring together complementary skills, knowledge and resources in new ways, in order to jointly address research problems.  24 projects have been funded following two pilot calls in 2012 and 2013.

The ERC Scientific Council agreed to re-introduce the scheme in the beginning of October at its plenary session in Dublin, Ireland. The future Synergy Grant call for proposals, including its budget, dates and eligibility criteria, should be published in the 2018 ERC Work Programme to be adopted by the European Commission in 2017.

Read the full ERC Press Release.

Steven Boonen Award,   Iain T Boyle Award,   Mike Horton Award,   Philippe Bordier Award

ECTS is pleased to accept nominations for the 2017 named awards, bestowed in recongition of our colleagues and friends who have contributed so much to the field of bone and mineral metabolism.

Please consider your colleagues for each of these awards, which recognise excellence and commitment in our field.

Deadline for nominations: Friday 9 December 2016

Further details about each of these awards, can be found by clicking on the links above.  You can also visit the Grants & Awards section where you will find more funding opportunities, including the prestigious ECTS-Amgen Fellowship.

ECTS co-signs the Call to Action to Address the Crisis in the Treatment of Osteoporosis initiated from the American Society of Bone Mineral Research (ASBMR).

The paper has been released during a press conference on 19 September at 12 noon (US Eastern Time) in conjunction with the ASBMR 2016 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The speakers included Douglas P. Kiel, MD, MPH, ASBMR President; Kenneth Saag, MD, NOF President and NBHA Co-Chair; Sundeep Khosla, MD, Mayo Clinic, former ASBMR President; Andrea Singer, MD, NOF Medical Director; and John Kanis, MD, IOF President.

ECTS is the major organisation in Europe for researchers and clinicians working in the musculoskeletal field. With an Annual Congress, PhD Training Courses and many research funding instruments, ECTS acts as a forum for the dissemination of scientific excellence and education.  ECTS represents more than 600 members, including basic researchers, clinicians, students and health allied professionals working in the musculoskeletal field.  It has a network of over 30 national and international Affiliated Societies.