European Cystic Fibrosis Society

Report on the 3rd European Young Investigator Meeting - Training the next CF scientific leaders. The European CF Young Investigator Meeting (EYIM) was launched in 2007 by 5 patient organizations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands) in collaboration with the ECFS, the Medical Faculty for Medicine of Lille, France, and supported by Chiesi Pharmaceuticals initially. It aims at strengthening the skills and knowledge of young scientists involved in CF cutting-edge research. In 2009, an international scientific committee has selected 39 junior scientists, coming from basic and clinical research, who shared their results, empower themselves, and discuss with leading scientists in the field, for 3 days (25-28 August 2009) in Lille, France. 10 countries were represented: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and United Kingdom. Senior scientists chaired the sessions and gave state of the art lectures in the fields of: genetics, cell biology, immunology, microbiology, and clinical issues in CF. Attendants were also invited to attend a workshop about presenting scientific data in English, led by an English language trainer from the James Boswell Institute (Utrecht University, The Netherlands).

Stefanie Diemer, from Germany, received a 500 € award from the scientific committee for her presentation entitled: “Airway surface liquid depletion causes MMP-12 dependent emphysema in βENaC-overexpressing mice”. She has been invited to present her results at the 33^rd ECFS Conference, 16-19 June 2010, Valencia, Spain (www.ecfs.eu/valencia2010)

By providing an appropriate context for scientific networking, this meeting aims at fostering collaborations between the key leaders of CF research from today and tomorrow.

Report provided by Franck Dufour, Scientific Director, Vaincre La Mucoviscidose, France