Almost 5 years ago something interesting happened in Edinburgh. REWARD and EQUATOR teamed up and organized a joint conference on “Increasing value and reducing waste in biomedical research “. Over the last five years, that topic has dominated Meta-research and research improvement activities all over the world. Now 5 years later, it is again time for another REWARD and EQUATOR conference, this time in Berlin. And I have the honor to serve on the local organizing committee.
My role is so small, that the LOC is currently not even mentioned on the website. But the website does show some other names, promising a great event! it starts with the theme. which is “Challenges and opportunities for Improvement for Ethics Committees and Regulators, Publishers, Institutions and Researchers, Funders – and Methods for measuring and testing Interventions”. That is not a sexy title like 5 years ago, but it shows that the field has outgrown the alarmistic phase and is now looking for real and lasting changes for the better – a move I can only encourage. See you in Berlin?
Every year there is a Neurology symposium organized in the quiet and beautiful town of Kuopio in Finland. Every three years, just like this year, the topic is stroke and for that reason, I was invited to be part of the faculty. A true honor, especially if you consider the other speakers on the program who all delivered excellent talks!
But these symposia are much more than just the hard cold science and prestige. It is also about making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. Leave that up to the Fins, whose decision to get us all on a boat and later in a sauna after a long day in the lecture hall proved to be a stroke of genius.
So, it was not for nothing that many of the talks boiled down to the idea that the best science is done with friends – in a team. This is true for when you are running a complex international stroke rehabilitation RCT, or you are investigating whether the lower risk in CVD morbidity and mortality amongst frequent sauna visitors. Or, in my case, about the role of hypercoagulability in young stroke – pdf of my slides can be found here –
Last week, I attended and spoke at the Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis (MCCT). This is not your standard, run-of-the-mill, conference where people share their most recent research. The MCCT is different, and focuses on the larger picture, by giving faculty the (plenary) stage to share their thoughts on opportunities and challenges in the field. Then, with the help of a team of PhD students, these thoughts are than further discussed in a break out session. All was wrapped up by a plenary discussion of what was discussed in the workshops. Interesting format, right?
It was my first MCCT, and I had difficulty envisioning how
exactly this format will work out beforehand. Now that I have experienced it
all, I can tell you that it really depends on the speaker and the people
attending the workshops. When it comes to the 20 minute introductions by the
faculty, I think that just an overview of the current state of the art is not
enough. The best presentations were all about the bigger picture, and had
either an open question, a controversial statement or some form of “crystal ball” vision of the future. It really is difficult to “find consensus” when there is no controversy as was the case in some
plenary talks. Given the break-out nature of the workshops, my observations are
limited in number. But from what I saw, some controversy (if need be only constructed
for the workshop) really did foster discussion amongst the workshop participants.
Two specific activities stand out for me. The first is the lecture and workshop on post PE syndrome and how we should able to monitor the functional outcome of PE. Given my recent plea in RPTH for more ordinal analyses in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis – learning from stroke research with its mRS- we not only had a great academic discussion, but made immediately plans for a couple of projects where we actually could implement this. The second activity I really enjoyed is my own workshop, where I not only gave a general introduction into stroke (prehospital treatment and triage, clinical and etiological heterogeneity etc) but also focused on the role of FXI and NETS. We discussed the role of DNase as a potential for co-treatment for tPA in the acute setting (talking about “crystal ball” type of discussions!). Slides from my lecture can be found here (PDF). An honorable mention has to go out to the PhD students P and V who did a great job in supporting me during the prep for the lecture and workshop. Their smart questions and shared insights really shaped my contribution.
Now, I said it was not always easy to find consensus, which
means that it isn’t impossible. In fact, I am
sure that themes that were discussed all boil down to a couple opportunities
and challenges. A first step was made by HtC and HS from the MCCT leadership
team in the closing session on Friday which will proof to be a great jumping
board for the consensus paper that will help set the stage for future research
in our field of arterial thrombosis.
A small group of epi-nerds (JLR, TK and myself) decided to start a colloquium on epidemiological methods. This colloquium series kicks off with a webcast of an event organised by the Society for Epidemiological Research (SER), but in general we will organize meetings focussed on advanced topics in epidemiological methods. Anyone interested is welcome. Regularly meetings will start in February 2017. All meetings will be held in English.
More information on the first event can be found below or via this link:
“Perspective of relative versus absolute effect measures” via SERdigital
Date: Wednesday, November 16th 2016 Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Seminar Room of the Neurology Clinic, first floor (Alte Nervenklinik)
Bonhoefferweg 3, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin- Campus Mitte, 10117 Berlin
(Map: https://www.charite.de/service/lageplan/plan/map/ccm_bonhoefferweg_3)
Description:
Join us for a live, interactive viewing party of a debate between two leading epidemiologists, Dr. Charlie Poole and Dr. Donna Spiegelman, about the merits of relative versus absolute effect measures. Which measure of effect should epidemiologists prioritize? This digital event organized by the Society for Epidemiologic Research will also include three live oral presentations selected from submitted abstracts. There will be open discussion with other viewers from across the globe and opportunities to submit questions to the speakers. And since no movie night is complete without popcorn, we will provide that, too! For more information, see: https://epiresearch.org/ser50/serdigital
Last week was the first edition of the European Congress on Thrombosis and Hemostasis in the Hague (NL). The idea of this conference is to provide a platform for european thrombosis researchers and doctors to meet in the dull years between ISTH meetings. There is a strong emphasis on enabling and training the young researchers, as can be from the different activities and organisational aspects. One os these things was the Junior advisory board, of which I was part. We had the task to give advice both solicited and unsolicited, and help organise and shape some of the innovative aspects. For example: we had the so-called fast and furious sessions, where authors of the best abstract were asked to let go of the standard presentation format and share their research TED talk style.
Fast and Furious science! The second ECTH F&F session is in full swing starting with Johan Verhoef from @UMCUtrecht on poly-p nanoparticles pic.twitter.com/F0Umw7gSpr
I learned a lot during these sessions, and even got in contact with some groups that have interesting methods and approaches that we might apply in our studies and patient populations. My thoughts: targeting FXII and FXI as well as DNAse treatment are the next big thing. We also had a great selection of speakers for meet-the-experts and how-to sessions. These sessions demanded active participation of all participants which is really a great way to build new collaborations and friendships.
The wednesday plenary sessions, including the talks on novel and innovative methods of scholarly communications as well as the very well received sessions from Malcolm Macloud on reducing research waste where inspiring to all. Missed it? do not worry, they have shared their slides online!
All in all, the conference was a great success in both numbers (750+ participants) as well as scientific quality. I am looking forward to the next edition, which will be held in Marseille in two years time. Hope to see you all there!
My first conference experience (ISTH 2008, Boston) got me hooked on science. All these people doing the same thing, speaking the same language, and looking to show and share their knowledge. This is true when you are involved in the organisation. Organising the international soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam linked to the ISTH 2013 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the NVTH was fun. But lets not forget the exciting challenge of organising the WEON 2014.
And now, the birth of a new conference, the European Congress of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, which will be held in The Hague in Netherlands (28-30 sept 2016). I am very excited for several reasons: First of all, this conference will fill in the gap of the bi-annual ISTH conferences. Second, I have the honor to help out as the chair of the junior advisory board. Third, the Hague! My old home town!
So, we have 10 months to organise some interesting meetings and activities, primary focussed on the young researchers. Time to get started!
bob siegerink 