INVITATION
Dear Colleagues,
It is our pleasure to announce
the forthcoming Congress of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO)
that will take place in Innsbruck, Austria from the 1st to the 3rd of March
2007. ECCO aims with this congress to gather all clinicians and scientists
interested in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Europe and around the world.
During this meeting, pathophysiological mechanisms underlying development of
IBD will be discussed in the light of new fi ndings, and old dogmas will be
revisited and challenged. Most clinicians treating IBD patients are convinced
of the need for a more personalised management of our patients. However, the
concept of personalised management has changed, and will do so even more in
the future, with the advent of genetics, proteomics, and immunology as tools
to better tailor the treatment of patients and to achieve longstanding
remission and an optimal quality of life. A personalised management needs,
with no doubt, understanding of the clinical problem and the underlying
mechanism producing it, as well as the likelihood to respond to a given
therapy.
ECCO has taken the decision to implement these concepts and to put all its
efforts into it. ECCO wishes to create a forum for science related to IBD in
Europe and therefore we appreciate the submission of abstracts containing
original IBD-related research. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed and the best
will be invited for oral presentations and integrated in the congress sessions,
whereas others will be presented as posters. It is ECCO’s idea that the
Poster Session has to be very (inter)active, and enough time for presentation
and discussion will be given in a comfortable area and atmosphere.
Also during the ECCO Congress, the 5th IBD Intensive Advanced Course for
Junior Gastroenterologists will take place. Students invited for this course
will take part in the congress and will also be invited to very specifi c
lectures and teaching especially designed for them. This course has gained a
good reputation among fellow gastroenterologists due to the high interaction
between the students and the professors.
An ECCO IBD Nurses Meeting will also take place during the meeting.
ECCO wants to welcome you to its Congress in Innsbruck, a city of art
surrounded by impressive nature, and hopes to strengthen its ties with all
scientists, clinicians, industry and organisations interested in IBD.
Miquel A. Gassull M.D., Ph.D. Herbert Tilg, M.D.
President of the European Crohn’s and
Treasurer ECCO and Local Organizer
Colitis Organisation
