On-site Interviews: Cezmi Akdis
Venue: XXVIII EAACI Congress
Date: 06-10 June 2009, Warsaw
Cezmi A. Akdis
Prof Akdis is the Vice President of the EAACI for Congresses and the Director of the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research, Davos and Professor in Zurich University Medical Faculty. The eaaci.net met him in Warsaw and interviewed him on ''hot'' topics in the area of allergy and clinical immunology.
XXVIII EAACI Congress
The theme of this year’s Congress is “Allergy without Frontiers”. So, how do you envisage the motto of this year’s EAACI Congress on a European and international level?
Indeed, we appreciated that “allergy does not have any frontiers” in four aspects during the EAACI Warsaw congress.
- A) As a multi organ and multi system disease allergic diseases are related to several different medical disciplines.
- B) Allergy research does not accept any frontiers and is related to many different research areas.
- C) This year we had more than 6000 participants from 102 different countries all around the World showing that EAACI congresses do not also accept any geographic frontiers.
- D) The scientific programme of the Congress has been addressed not only to allergists, but also to various specialists and general practitioners, proving that allergic patients are served best, if we can cross the borders between different medical disciplines.
How do you organize the scientific programme of the congress?
Our Scientific Programme Committee is working very hard to make the most exciting and up to date scientific programme for each and every congress. We want to include the best scientific sessions and the best educational sessions in our programme. First, an invitation letter to all EAACI members is sent approximately 20 months before the congress. Their suggestions are collected by the Scientific Programme Committee, which starts to work 18 months before the congress and meets several times during the preparation period together with EAACI Section Secretaries and Interest Group Chairpersons. Hot topics, and recent developments are included in the programme until the last minute. For example this year, we included the H1N1 Flu and Flu Pandemics in the History of the World in the programme just a couple of weeks, before the start of the congress.
Science and research
How do you see the future of allergy as disease, as a discipline in 5-10 years time?
Allergic diseases showed substantial increase in prevalence and total patient care costs during the last 4 decades. It is now time to catch up with the needs of the community by improving the state of our discipline in any means including novel drugs, prevention, better patient care, increased research funds, increased capacities for education and better communication with the whole community. There are important problems facing allergy and immunology, just as there are for many other subspecialties. We need to broaden our specialty clinically and scientifically so as to provide more consistent research and improved patient care and prevention of diseases that have an allergic component.
What are the challenges that you face as the new VP on Congresses of the Academy? How do you plan to meet them?
Every EAACI congress has a unique feature due to differences in host city and congress venue. We have to face many major problems in organizing such a big event with full satisfaction.
- Best scientific programme is being brought together with the involvement of individual members, sections, interest groups, Ex-com members. Particularly young scientists, developing group leaders and JMA are supported.
- Best social program is being organized with the realization of the touristic part of our congresses and satisfaction of accompanying persons.
- A healthy economy and budget of the congress and other means of fund-raising is being sought and implemented.
- Membership and congress participant satisfaction is being measured.
- With the opening of the new EAACI Headquarters, we now have a very strong team with one congress manager and one communication manager as continuous employees of our Academy. In this way, the knowhow to organize a successful congress will be kept inhouse and transferred to upcoming responsible EAACI officers.
What are your plans for regenerating EAACI in time of your work in the ExCom?
I have been involved in the planning of our congresses as a member of the Scientific Programme Committee as the secretary of the Immunology Section in 2001 and chair of the Immunology Section in 2003-2005. I served the academy as the Coordinator of our Scientific Programming Committee in 2005-2007 and became the Vice President for Congresses in 2007. My experience in the Academy and Ex-com has taught me that EAACI should develop on “Solid Grounds” as a “World Leader Society in Allergy and Clinical Immunology.”
- We have to better understand the needs of the EAACI People (members and JMA) and EAACI external affiliates. In this way, EAACI activities and initiatives can be optimized a long term vision and mission of EAACI can be incorporated to a strategic programme.
Other, short and medium term aims are:
Organization of beautiful EAACI annual meetings, EAACI small focused congresses and EAACI educational schools with best scientific and social programme; strengthening of our speciality; increasing membership; involvement of the members in decisions and democratization of our Academy; full member satisfaction and continuous measurement of it; normalization of gender imbalance and professionalisation of our Academy’s Headquarters in a steady way.
I believe that teamwork, transparency, harmony, synergy and good communication in our Ex-com and EAACI HQ will bring more efficiency, quality and success.
How has the global financial crisis affected allergy research and motivation?
Global financial crisis did not show an immediate effect on drug industry and research funding bodies in Europe in the area of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The total number of 6100 participants in Warsaw Congress was very much appreciated and found more than expected in a crisis and flu situation.
Currently, there is some fund cuts in marketing departments in big pharma industry. Another negative effect is being observed in difficulties in fund-raising in spin-off companies. So far, EAACI did not experience any negative influence of the global financial crisis. I hope the positive signs that the global financial crisis is recovering during the last three months with the optimistic effect of sunny days of spring and summer will continue during next autumn and winter.
Allergy as a disease keeps rising on a steadily increasing rate: Do you think that people are well informed of the allergic disorders?
We have to constantly communicate with allergists and other specialists related to allergy diagnosis and treatment, GPs, other health care professionals, patients, general public and political and financial decision makers. Information flow should be bi-lateral and continuous and there is no satisfaction point.
Our new beautiful website should connect all EAACI people with the possibility of virtual working and other means of Social Media technology such as Facebook and Twitter. We should be open for innovative communication strategies.
One important point to develop in our website is to have a free access patient information portal to fulfil patient needs.
One good news, for this year’s congress is that almost all of the handouts of EAACI Warsaw speakers are now in our website (http://www.eaacihandouts.net/). These handouts will stay in the website open for free access to congress participants until the 1st of June 2010.
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