You might already have heard that a group of enthusiasts recently formed an Epidemiology IG within EAACI, and you might have asked yourself what the additional role of such a group within EAACI could be, given that most of the Sections and IGs already cover epidemiology and clinical research to some degree within their own specialist areas.

Rest assured. We are not aiming to invade your territory but to build bridges between different IGs and Sections and provide overarching expertise in epidemiology, study design and statistics where this might be useful for the activities within your IG and Section.

This comes at a time when more and more funding bodies want to support patient-centred research and translational medicine from bench to bedside, both of which require expertise in epidemiology and clinical study design. There is also an increasing interest in the study of disease prevention, a domain that is right at the heart of epidemiology. In addition, basic science methods are now being used as part of large population-based studies, and it is essential to be well-versed in both and to build collaborations between basic scientists, clinical researchers, epidemiologists and biostatisticians. A further research area on the rise linked to epidemiology is the use of patient registries and research databases. Indeed, an EAACI Task Force on registries has recently been formed, which we as Epidemiology IG will be actively involved in and which will bring together expertise from across the EAACI IGs and Sections. We hope this will be a model for future activities of our IG.

Last but not least, our IG aims to raise the profile of epidemiology and population-based allergy research within EAACI by offering high quality training in epidemiology and statistics through dedicated Postgraduate Courses, conference sessions and allergy schools. The first Postgraduate Course will be held in Geneva during the 2012 Congress, and we hope to see many of you there.

In essence, the new Epidemiology IG seeks to complement the wealth of expertise that is already available within the EAACI Sections and IGs, and we look forward to working with you and invite you to join us as IG members.





Carsten Flohr
Chair EAACI Epidemiology IG
(carsten.flohr@kcl.ac.uk)







George N Konstantinou
Secretary EAACI Epidemiology IG
(gnkosntantinou@gmail.com)