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Announcement from ESDR President Prof. Chris Griffiths on the Postponement of the 50th Annual ESDR Meeting
9 April 2020
Dear Colleague,
The ESDR Board has taken the appropriate yet unprecedented decision to postpone our 50th Annual Meeting scheduled for September 2020.
The Board took into account the continued uncertainty regarding the timelines on international travel restrictions amid the closure of most academic institutions and cessation of non-COVID research work, accompanied by the redeployment of many clinical academics to general medicine.
The new dates for the meeting are 22-25 September 2021; the location will be the same as for 2020 namely the iconic Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As far as it is possible, we hope to run the same plenary programme of speakers as for 2020 and retain the same structure to the meeting which will still be the 50th Annual Meeting of the ESDR.
I suspect this is not unexpected news but amidst all the gloom and anxiety occasioned by COVID-19 I wanted to remove at least one uncertainty from your lives. By so doing I can offer a glimmer of light that the ESDR is still functioning and planning to provide a high quality scientific and educational 50th Annual Meeting in 2021. I am aware this message will generate many questions; to address these the ESDR Office have assembled a list of frequently asked questions and answers to assist you.
My best wishes to you, your colleagues and families in these turbulent times and please stay safe and well.
Prof. Chris Griffiths
ESDR President
Welcome to ESDR2021
The ESDR was founded in Amsterdam in 1970 and had planned to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic this meeting had to be postponed. We are very happy to announce that this meeting will now be held from 22 – 25 September 2021 in Amsterdam. You are kindly invited to join our special anniversary meeting. The scientific program will include an overview of 50 years of dermatological research in Europe presented by celebrated international speakers. The meeting program will not only look back but there will be ample opportunities for both scientists and clinicians from Europe and beyond to present their work and have discussions. Like every year we will have excellent scientists, not only from our own specialty, to deliver keynote lectures. Next to the lecture halls and meeting rooms, there will be a beautiful historical and spacious area for poster walks and electronic poster displays. Virtual sessions will be organized so that people who can’t travel to Amsterdam, can attend this special ESDR meeting.
The meeting will be held in the “Beurs van Berlage”, which was formerly the merchant’s exchange and has been an essential part of Amsterdam’s city centre for more than a century. This national monument, which was built in 1903 by architect Hendrik Pieter Berlage, is considered as the first example of modern architecture in the Netherlands. This venue is now THE central meeting place in the heart of the city, hosting hundreds of meetings annually. The Beurs van Berlage is just a 5-minute walk away from the central railway station, which connects directly to the airport. To celebrate ESDR’s 50th anniversary a special social event will be organized in “Westergas”, which is a colorful meeting point for culture in all its shapes and sizes. This historical site is located in a cultural village in the heart of Amsterdam.
We look forward to seeing you in Amsterdam to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our society!
Best wishes,
Menno de Rie
Chair, Local Organising Committee
ESDR2021 - President’s Welcome
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt all facets of life across the world. Large international scientific congresses became non-viable for 2020 and as you are aware the ESDR Board took the early decision to postpone the ESDR 2020 Anniversary meeting into 2021. We know this decisive move was appreciated by our membership. We are delighted that we have been able to secure the same venues for the scientific meeting and networking events in Amsterdam for 22-25 September 2021. 2020 is an exceptional year for the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) as we achieve the 50th anniversary of the Society but this and the 50th meeting (now in 2021) will still be celebrated. To mark the occasions we will be doing things a little differently for this one-off event in Amsterdam. We have chosen this city for the specific reason that the first meeting of the ESDR was held at a hotel in Noordwijk on the Dutch coast in 1971 – a venue too small to host the more than 1500 delegates we expect for the 50th meeting. We will meet in the Beurs van Berlage, an architecturally special building, in the centre of the city, originally the commodity exchange built in 1903 but now an international conference centre.
Habitués of ESDR meetings will be relieved to know that the structure of the 50th meeting won’t be a radical departure from the usual format of free communications, poster walks, electronic posters and iconic lectures including the Rudi Cormane Lecture, EADV Lecture and René Touraine Foundation Lecture. However, we have also invited four high profile plenary 2021 keynote lecturers from the world of science and five 50th anniversary lecturers who will speak on the topics of psoriasis, atopic eczema, skin cancer, genetic disease and cell biology. The anniversary lecturers will describe the advances in these topics since 1971 and the role played by European skin scientists in these developments. The social programme will be the usual concoction of entertainment and networking in unique venues throughout the city.
In recent years, the ESDR has made important strides in supporting the future leaders of skin science in Europe with the establishment of the Future Leaders’ Academy in 2011 and a leadership training programme in 2019. The 2021 Future Leaders’ Symposium promises to be a heady mix of high quality science and active networking. The Society also recognises the importance of global health research and its duty to promote skin research in least developed countries of the world. The day preceding the main conference will, as is usual, be devoted to meetings of special interest groups and societies, which are also characterised, by the extremely high quality of scientific discussion. We actively encourage academic-industrial collaboration as will be evidenced by the Discovery sessions and lunchtime symposia. This is aligned with our establishment and support of the Skin Science Foundation and its promotion of next-generation skincare.
We strongly encourage you to attend this anniversary celebration of all that is great about skin research to present your work, be educated and inspired, meet old friends and make new ones and look forward to welcoming you personally to Amsterdam. In the meantime, the COVID-19 pandemic has infiltrated and disrupted the lives of all of us, and we offer our sincere wish that you, your families and colleagues are safe and well during these turbulent and uncertain times.
Chris Griffiths
ESDR President 2019-2020
Márta Széll
ESDR President 2020-2021