ECCMID Abstract Submission – A big thank you!

ESCMID would like to extend our thanks to our scientific community for the overwhelming response to the call for abstracts for ECCMID 2021, despite the challenging times. This rich selection of scientific work ensures that the congress will be extremely lively and diverse!

Do you have new findings to report but missed the regular abstract submission? Don’t miss the (late)breaker abstract submission from 26 April – 7 May 2021.

As an exception this year, the submission of high-quality regular research abstracts is allowed during the late-breaker call, for members of our community who could not prepare and submit their work during the regular call, due to involvement in the pandemic response.

› Read more

ESCMID Vlogs

Have you watched any of the new ESCMID Vlogs yet?
Listen to the thoughts of members of the ESCMID community as they give their thoughts on the current state of the ID/CM community, COVID-19 and ECCMID.

More Vlogs are still to come on the ESCMID YouTube Channel.

› Read more

ECRAID-Base Launches European Clinical Research Alliance

Following the signing of the Grant Agreement by the European Commission (EC), ECRAID-Base has secured funding of 30 million euros and will commence March 1st 2021. ECRAID-Base is the core set of activities for ECRAID (the European Clinical Research Alliance for Infectious Diseases), which aspires to become the first of its kind, pan-European clinical research network for infectious diseases in Europe.

Read the full press release here.

ESCMID is a proud participant in ECRAID-Base.

› Read more

ESCMID YouTube Channel: Catch the Websymposia!

Have you subscribed to the ESCMID YouTube channel? Find Vlogs, ECCVID sessions, as well as the replays of the COVID-19 Websymposia available for on-demand viewing.

Visit the ESCMID YouTube channel to view and subscribe!

› Read more

GARDP Webinar – Learning from COVID-19 to tackle the silent pandemic of AMR

Don’t miss the next GARDP Live Webinar, taking place on Thursday, 4 March 2021 from 16:00 CET.

Join speakers Dr. Manica Balasegaram, Dr. Joanne Liu and Dr. Marc Mendelson as they discuss AMR lessons that can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sign up on the GARDP website.

› Read more

EMA public stakeholders meeting on the approval, safety monitoring and impact of COVID-19 vaccines in the EU on 26 March from 13:00 to 15:15 CET

ESCMID informs you of the third EMA public stakeholder meeting on the approval, safety monitoring and impact of COVID-19 vaccines in the EU to be held virtually on 26 March 2021 from 13:00 to 15:15 CET.

EMA is organising this open event to provide an update on:

• COVID-19 vaccines approved in the EU and those currently under review;
• post-authorisation activities, including emerging safety data since EU authorisation of the first COVID-19 vaccines, and ongoing work to address new variants;
• the expected impact of COVID-19 vaccination on our society;
• transparency and the publication of clinical data for COVID-19 vaccines.

The agenda and all information related to the event are available on the EMA website event page. The meeting will be broadcast live and a recording will be available after the meeting.

ESCMID invites you to join the virtual meeting room in WebEx by completing and submitting this form no later than 15 March 2021 (Note: please use Google Chrome/Safari browser).

Please contact COVID19-public-event@ema.europa.eu if you have any questions.

› Read more

DisCoVeRy project: a joint effort is needed

DisCoVeRy is an academic, multicentre, European, adaptive, randomized controlled trial with the objective to evaluate the safety and efficacy of possible therapeutic agents in adults hospitalized for COVID-19.

The study initiated in March 2020 with 5 arms: 1 arm of standard of care, and 4 arms of re-purposed drugs. A new arm of the DisCoVeRy trial will be implemented shortly. This phase III study arm will compare in a blinded fashion the AZD7442 monoclonal antibody cocktail (from AstraZeneca) associated with standard of care to placebo associated with standard of care. There are currently five countries participating in the DisCoVeRy study, now part of the European project entitled “EU-RESPONSE for European Research and Preparedness Network for Pandemics and Emerging Infectious Diseases” supported by the European H2020 grant.

However, it is only with the joint effort of most European countries that DisCoVeRy will be able to include the 1240 patients needed to complete this study in a short period of 6 months.

If your center/hospital/institution would be interested in participating or if you have any further questions concerning the study, please contact Prof. Florence Ader ( florence.ader@chu-lyon.fr ), or Prof. Maya Hites ( Maya.Hites@erasme.ulb.ac.be ).

CMI highlight: Joint ESCMID, FEMS, IDSA, ISID and SSI position paper on the fair handling of career breaks among physicians and scientists when assessing eligibility for early-career awards

In this joint effort by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS), the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) and the Swiss Society for Infectious Diseases (SSI), authors invited all ECCMID-affiliated medical societies and funding bodies to participate in a survey on current ‘early-career’ application restrictions and measures taken to provide protections for career breaks. Based on the response received, consensus recommendations were developed for the fair handling of eligibility for early-career awards and they are presented in the present publications. 

› Read more