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Meet the New ERA-EDTA President Gérard M. London

The Official ERA-EDTA Newsletter Year 4 Issue 9

Jorge B. Cannata-Andía, ERA-EDTA Past President, interviews his successor at the start of his term

JCA: Gérard, you were an ERA-EDTA Or-dinary Council Member a few years ago, now you became President of the Associa-tion: can you tell me how you perceive the growth of the ERA-EDTA? GL: I have been a member of the ERA-EDTA since the early 70th of the last cen-tury, therefore I have closely followed the changes in the activities and scientific impact of our Society in all these years. I must say that during the last �5 years our Society evolved to one of the most active medical scientific societies in Europe, and in the Nephrology world in general. This achievement is the results of many ini-tiatives and actions of last Society Presi-dents and Council members, as well as of the scientific committees in charge of the programs of our Congresses. I would like to particularly underline this last point stressing how successful the Congresses of ERA-EDTA were in the past few years, with a continuous growing number of participants from many different coun-tries, not only European, but worldwide.

JCA: I believe the ERA-EDTA started a great number of important initiatives. Do you believe that now there is a balanced participation of Northern and Southern European countries in all these activi-ties?GL: What is very encouraging is an increa-sed participation and involvement of Ne-phrologists from the Northern European countries, and this is a direct proof of the increasing impact of ERA-EDTA.

JCA: The ERA-EDTA now has members from more than 40 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. This implies a great diversity: cultural, religions and socio-political. What about Nephrology practi-ces, are there important differences in the care of CKD?GL: One of the successful achievements of ERA-EDTA is to bring together not only European countries but also “non-Euro-

pean” Mediterranean countries which seems to me a very natural thing – Mare Nostrum was the centre of our history and “civilisation” and it is very “natural” that nephrologists from all the Mediterra-nean countries meet and communicate. Of course the practice of nephrology differs among these different countries with the main limitations in the activities being linked to financial aspects. Nevertheless the general care of CKD patients is impro-ving and National Societies, just to men-tion Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and others, are very active.

JCA: How do you find the involvement of the European Nephrologists in the preven-tion of Chronic Kidney Disease? Do they work enough in this field?GL: I think that not only European Ne-phrologists but Nephrologists all around the world are concerned with the preven-tion and/or slowing down the progres-sion of CKD. Many initiatives have been launched in this sense, not only at the level of National Societies and Health au-thorities, but also with a growing public awareness. Nevertheless a lot of work is still to be done, especially by increasing the awareness of other medical specialists and general practitioners.

JCA: What is your perception about what the ERA-EDTA is doing for the Transla-tional Nephrology in Europe? Do you be-lieve that there is still a big gap between clinical and basic research? GL: ERA-EDTA has launched some im-portant initiatives in this field. Fellowshi-ps programmes and now the new Resear-ch programme. Therefore from this point of view our Society is very active. I think that the gap between basic research and clinical practice still exists. The reason is the tremendous development of biologi-cal sciences and the difficulties of clinician to cope with their daily practice and edu-cational activities.

JCA: We are aware that there is a shor-tage of Nephrologists throughout Europe, do you believe that ERA-EDTA can do so-mething to reduce this problem?GL: The shortage of Nephrologists in Eu-rope does not help resolve this problem. This was one of the reasons why ERA-EDTA contributes so much to educational programs with CME courses and other educational activities.

JCA: As the new ERA-EDTA President, let us know your priorities?GL: As a new President my main challenge will be to continue the work and activities of my predecessors and, at least maintain the impact and good name of our Society. But who does not advance stagnates and regresses, therefore my priority will be to continue to promote and support ba-sic and translational research, facilitating the creation of working groups, as well as narrow the gap between science and clinical practice by promoting continuous medical educational programmes.

Gérard M. London

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PresidentGérard M. London, France

Secretary-TreasurerAdrian Covic, Romania

Chairperson of Administrative OfficesChairperson of the European Council for Accreditation in CME in Nephrology, Dialysis and TransplantationRosanna Coppo, Italy

Editor-in-Chief of “Nephrology Dialy-sis Transplantation”Norbert Lameire, Belgium

Chairman of the RegistryEditor-in-Chief of “NDT-Educational”Carmine Zoccali, Italy

Ordinary Council MembersGiovanni Cancarini, ItalyDominique Chauveau, FranceIvan Rychlik, Czech RepublicGoce Spasovski, F.Y.R. of MacedoniaPeter Stenvinkel, SwedenGultekin Suleymanlar, TurkeyChristoph Wanner, GermanyAndrzej Wiecek, Poland

President of the XLVI Congress (WCN 2009)Francesco Locatelli, Italy

Chairs of the Scientific Programme Com-mittee of the XLVI Congress (WCN 2009)Kai-Uwe Eckardt, GermanyPierre Ronco, France

Editor-in-Chief of “Follow us”Adrian Covic, Romania

Co-Editors of “Follow us”João Frazão, PortugalCengiz Utas, Turkey

ERA-EDTA websitewww.era-edta.org

XLVI Congress website (WCN 2009)www.wcn�009.org

NDT-Educational websitewww.ndt-educational.org

ERA-EDTA Registry websitewww.era-edta-reg.org

On behalf of the Italian nephrological community, it is my great pleasure to invite you to Milan in May �009 to par-ticipate in the World Congress of Nephrology �009. After the extremely successful WCN �003, ERA-EDTA and ISN have decided to once again join forces to produce a meet-ing of outstanding scientific quality combined with an ex-tremely rich cultural experience.The venue of the meeting, the Milano Convention Centre, has been totally renovated and provides state-of-the art fa-cilities for a large congress but at the same time is located in the heart of the city, which in these days is actually an exception to the rule.The Scientific Programme Committee has worked hard in order to ensure a wide choice of lectures and symposia covering the various aspects of basic and clinical Nephrol-ogy as well as the most recent researches in the field.CNE sessions will be offered in eight different languages (English, French, Italian, Polish, Portu-guese, Serbo/Croatian, Spanish and Turkish).Travel grants for young nephrologists will be available.Milan is one of the most vibrant and modern Italian cities, with outstanding cultural and historic landmarks, it is also well known as the capital of world fashion: you will not want to miss the Duomo which is the most impressive example of Italian gothic architecture, a visit to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” or a stroll along the most famous Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga and surroundings where all world renown Italian designer shops are located. Visitors will also have the opportunity to visit the many museums that the city offers, among them the “Pinaco-teca Brera” that holds an incredible collection of over 600 masterpieces, among which, works of Raffaello, Piero della Francesca, Caravaggio, Bellini, Mantegna and Tintoretto – just to mention a few! In the city center you will also find the magnificent “Castello Sforzesco” built along the medieval city walls between �360-�370 and the world famous opera house “La Scala”, where a special evening will be organised for the WCN �009 delegates with “Murder in the Cathedral” by I. Pizzetti.Milan is also just a few hours away from some of the most wonderful cities in Italy – Venice; Florence; Rome, but also smaller cities and beautiful locations, like Verona and the lakes of Northern Italy (Lake Como with its incredible villas and towns – like Bellagio and Cernobbio; or Lake Garda with the medieval town of Sirmione or the Roman villa known as “Grotte di Catullo” as well as Lake Maggiore with its unique islands) – do not miss this opportunity to link this incredible scientific event with your holiday!I am looking forward to welcoming you in Milan in �009. Please visit our website at www.wcn2009.org to get more details about the Congress.

ERA-EDTA and ISN Together Again in Milan in 2009

From Francesco Locatelli, President of the World Congress of Nephrology 2009

WCN 2009 PLENARY LECTURES

Ernst Fehr (Switzerland) - Fairness (and its Limits) in Humans

Jules Hoffmann (France) – Innate immunity: from drosophila to mammals

Kari Alitalo (Finland) – Lymphangiogenesis in development and disease

Oliver Smithies (USA) – 60 years as a scientist: from gels to genes

Kari Stefansson (Iceland) - Population genomics: from cardiovascular risk to drug response

Jeremy K. Nicholson (UK) - Metabolic phenotypes, personalised medicine and molecular epidemiology

Francesco Locatelli

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News from the ERA-EDTA CouncilEX-OFFICIO OFFICERS The ERA-EDTA President, Jorge B. Cannata-Andía (Spain), ended his term in �008. The ERA-EDTA Council nominated

Gérard London (France) who was elected by the General Assembly in Barcelona (June 23, 2007) for the term 2008-2011.Furthermore also the other following ERA-EDTA Officers ended their first term in 2008:

Adrian Covic (Romania) - ERA-EDTA Secretary-Treasurer Rosanna Coppo (Italy) - ERA-EDTA Chairperson of Administrative Offices Norbert Lameire (Belgium) - NDT Editor-in-Chief

All of them have been confirmed for a second term (2008-2011).

ORDINARY COUNCIL MEMBERS At the ERA-EDTA Congress in Stockholm (May �0-�3, �008), João Frazao (Portugal), Pierre Ronco (France) and Cengiz Utas

(Turkey) completed their three-year term as ordinary members of the Council. The ballot which took place in Stockholm elected three new members from seven candidates who submitted their intention to serve as members of the Council for the next three years. The newly elected ERA-EDTA Council members are:

Dominique Chauveau (France)Ivan Rychlik (Czech Republic)Gultekin Süleymanlar (Turkey)

The ERA-EDTA congratulates all of them!

At the time of the Milan Congress (WCN 2009), three ordinary Council members will end their term: Goce Spasovski (F.Y.R. of Macedonia), Christoph Wanner (Germany) and Andrzej Wiecek (Poland). If you are interested in becoming a candidate for election to Ordinary Council Member, please send a written statement to the Secretary-Treasurer before February 15, 2009. All candidates must be full members of the Association and any proposals for election must be accompanied by supporting letters obtained from two other full members of the Association. All candidacy letters must also include a picture of the candidate, the CV and the transparency declaration form (www.era-edta.org/images/TransparencyDeclarationform.pdf). Please notice that according to the current ERA-EDTA Constitution no French or Italian candidates can be accepted for this election since the cur-rent Council already has two members from these Countries.

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A New ERA-EDTA Challenge: The Salt Blog

Stanley Shaldon

From Stanley Shaldon, the Salt Blog leader discussant and Carmine Zoccali, Editor-in-Chief of NDT-Educational

The recent articles on the health consequences of salt excess pub-lished in our parent journal (Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. �008 �3: �7�5; doi:�0.�093/ndt/gfn460) have reignited the controversy on this old but still debated question. Now Dr. Shaldon, a founder father of the ERA-EDTA and a man that has given fundamental contributions to the dialysis field, starts a “Salt Blog”, an open on line discussion which I invite you to join. As a companion initiative to this blog, you will also be invited to participate into a survey on the use of low salt diet in dialysis patients.

The link of the Salt Blog is www.thesaltblog.org. To enter the blog you can use the same username and password you have for NDT-Educational. If you do not remember it please click here. For any problem or question, please contact us at info@thesaltblog.org.We eagerly await your comments!

Carmine Zoccali

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Follow usThe official ERA-EDTA Newsletterfollowus@era-edta.orgwww.era-edta.org/followus.htm

Editor-in-Chief: Adrian CovicCo-Editors: João Frazão, Cengiz UtasManaging Editor: Silvia MenoniGraphic design: PierLuigi Franchi

ERA-EDTAc/o ERA-EDTA Administrative OfficeVia Spolverini 243100 Parma - Italy

Visit NDT Educational

www.ndt-educational.org

To be distributed free of charge to all ERA-EDTA members www.era-edta.org

ERA-EDTA NEXT CONGRESSESMilan, italy

May 22 - 26, 2009in collaboration with the

international Society of nephrology (iSn)

Munich, gerManyJune 25 - 28, 2010

Stockholm 2008: Another Record-breaking Congress for the ERA-EDTA

From Anders Alvestrand, President of the XLV Congress

Stockholm greeted a record number of more than 7000 delegates attending the Congress with the Nordic light and an almost Mediterranian weather, giving congress participants from all over the world the opportunity to enjoy a scientific programme of the highest quality and at the same time experience the beauty of Stockholm in bloom after the long Nordic winter.

The Opening Ceremony of the Congress was enjoyed by an audience of about 3000 delegates and guests. In his welcome speech the President of the ERA-EDTA, Professor Jorge B. Cannata-Andía, gave an overview of the ERA-EDTA fellowship programme and announced the names of the re-cipients of ERA-EDTA long-term fellowships. His speech was also a farewell address after his three successful years as President of ERA-EDTA. Professor Erna Möller, former Chairman of the Nobel Assembly, gave a both entertaining and informative lecture entitled “How to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine” which most likely inspired many young researchers in the audience to go home to make paradigm-shifting discoveries that force textbooks to be revised.

Between the speeches, the St. Jakob’s Chamber Choir gave an excellent performance of traditional Swedish Hymns for the Spring, and as an end of the ceremony the trio Donna & Dynamos delighted the audience with ABBA songs from the musical “Mamma Mia”. After the ceremony the delegates and guests were invited to the Welcome Reception in the Exhibi-tion area.

The Scientific Programme fulfilled all expectations, with excellent plenary lectures by Makoto Kuro-O, Eric Neilson and Eberhard Ritz, many outstanding symposia addressing a mix of basic science and clinical practice and problems, compact primers and lit-erature up-dates. As compared with previous ERA-EDTA congresses the number of oral communications session was markedly increased, and poster sessions took place quite close to the Industry Exhibition and without parallel activities. In addition to the scientific programme a number of Educational Sessions and Courses were also arranged.

I should like to thank all those who have been involved with the 45th Congress of the ERA-EDTA in Stockholm including the Sci-entific Committee under the superb chairmanship of Norbert Lameire, the Paper Selection Committee, the ERA-EDTA Council, the ERA-EDTA secretariat, and the local organising committee, as well as all the delegates. On behalf of the ERA-EDTA I should also like to thank the medical technology and pharmaceutical industries who supported the Congress with high-quality industry-sponsored symposia and an impressive exhibition.

The next Congress will be organised together with the International Society of Nephrology and is scheduled to take place in June �009 in Milan, Italy. After a number of highly successful ERA-EDTA Congresses, we are looking forward to the Milan Congress with great expectations.

Anders Alvestrand