...What was achieved and decided?
The year 2006 will see the first fellowships in the field of Nephrology awarded by ERA-EDTA. The entire programme is highly significant: grants for long-term and shorter term fellowships will be awarded, after an independent selection process by reputed nephrologists. This will be completed by travel grants offered for CME Courses in Europe. As presented by Rosanna Coppo in this issue, the ERA-EDTA CME programme is now fully mature and highly complex, encompassing all fields of nephrology in both Western and Eastern European countries.
Another important breakthrough was the final approval of ARPA (Arrest Renal disease Progression Aim). More than a large prospective, multicentre trial designed to address the most important issue in today’s nephrology - establishing the current ideal therapy to slow/arrest kidney disease progression and to diminish the impact of kidney disease on cardiovascular endpoints – ARPA is also a catalytic framework to boost research in various “buzzing” fields. More on this important initiative is presented in this issue by Carmine Zoccali, Chairman of the Registry and member of the steering committee. A roadmap has been outlined leading to the first ARPA conference to be held in early 2006.
Finally, basic research in particular and scientific issues in general will receive a boost from the new advisory body of the Council: the Scientific Advisory Board, composed of highly reputed researchers and clinicians. The SAB will propose new scientific initiatives, support the fellowship programme and foster new ideas to recapture basic science and translational nephrology.
The London Council meeting was the birthplace of two fundamental changes for our Society. The current election system might change following the definitive approval by the General Assembly of an electronic voting system for future elections. We thus hope to increase the number of voters and to implement a widely accepted voting modality. The numerous ethical challenges of today’s scientific life and treatment of kidney diseases made the initiation of an Ethics Committee a compelling priority; of note this will include Past ERA-EDTA Presidents as well as relevant personalities from outside our Society such as representatives of patients’ associations and experts in ethics.
The description of all the above initiatives and decisions supports clearly our idea that ERA-EDTA is at a turning point and is shifting gear for the fast lane of European nephrology and science.