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Since several years EAACI together with GA2LEN supports summer schools all over Europe. The summer school in Rotterdam was organised by the EAACI Asthma section and had as main theme "Asthma and Allergy: bridging the gap between basic and clinical science".

On Saturday 27th August, 104 participants from all over Europe and even more far away (Iran, Russia, Georgia and United States) arrived in Rotterdam Golden Tulip hotel. The venue was nicely located on the bank of the Maas river in downtown Rotterdam. In restaurant Prachtig next to the Erasmus bridge all people were welcomed with an outdoor reception and Urban Barbecue. Fortunately the weather was extremely good for Dutch standards and contributed to the perfect atmosphere.

The kick-off of the scientific programme took place on Sunday 28th August 9.00 AM. Although quite a few people went bar hopping the night before, the meeting room was full. After a short introduction and welcome of Gert-Jan Braunstahl, Gerard Koppelman from Groningen started with the first session about Asthma, nature or nurture. In this session the pathogenesis of asthma was discussed with special emphasis on genetics, psychological factors, environment, exercise and infections. In the afternoon, the immunopathology of asthma was the topic of interest. In clear presentations the speakers took their audience by the hand and unraveled the secrets of innate immunity, T-cells, neuro-immune interactions, mast cells, eosinophils and chemokines.

After the end of the session, the whole group took off to the nearby beach where we had a volleyball tournament and BBQ. On the sounds of several Golden Oldies there was room for dancing and getting to know each other better.
On Monday Peter Sterk from Leiden opened the session assessment and monitoring of asthma with a presentation about bronchial hyperreactivity. His talk was followed by several other presentations discussing the role of sputum induction, NO-measurement and airway remodeling.

After lunch break the whole group left for a boat ride to Kinderdijk, which is famous for its beautiful windmills. The boat ride was great and everyone seemed to enjoy the sun and wonderful skyline of Rotterdam. In Kinderdijk there was ample opportunity to look inside one of the windmills and to have an impression of earlier times. In the evening we went by underground to historic Delfshaven, where a dinner buffet was organized in a 400 year old beer brewery.

Despite the fact that the local beer was very much appreciated by most of the people, almost everybody was present on Tuesday morning s session about Evidence Based Medicine in airway disease. During this session several international Guidelines were presented, such as GINA, ARIA, GOLD and GARD. At lunch break interactive sessions were organized in small groups in which people were able to present their own work. There was a variety of research presented from basic science to clinical investigations. The discussion was lively and the presenters got good feedback on their projects. Subsequently, the whole group was split in four smaller groups visiting different parts of the Rotterdam University Hospital. There workshops were organized about various topics, such as animal models, immunopathology, diagnostic approaches and asthma and allergy in the clinic. During the workshops there was opportunity to watch several procedures and do experiments. At 19.00 hr the whole group gathered at the docks to take off by water taxi to the Euromast. With the incredible speed of 40 km/hr the group was transferred to the dinner place which was situated at 80 m high. The view from the restaurant overlooking Rotterdam and the docklands was marvelous. It was quite obvious that after 4 days of summer school the participants were much closer now. After dinner we had a last night cap at the borders of the Maas.

On Wednesday August 31st a symposium was organized together with the Dutch Asthma Foundation covering asthma therapy and failure. Current therapeutic approaches and new asthma therapies were discussed in lively presentations. The delegates actively participated in the discussions. After lunch break several Dutch pediatricians talked about early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of asthma and allergy in children. At the end of the course there was a small reception. Most of the participants had already left by that time.

From the feedback we have had until now, we may conclude that it was a very successful event. The organization would like to thank the enthusiastic faculty, who actively participated in the scientific as well as in the social programme. Finally, we are very grateful for the financial support from GA2LEN and EAACI, which made it possible for many participants to attend the summer school.

Gert-Jan Braunstahl

The 5th EAACI-GA²LEN Davos Meeting “Basic Immunology Research in Allergy and Asthma” took place again in Davos between the 1st and the 4th of February, 2007. The meeting was organized by the Immunology Section, this time together with the Asthma Section of the EAACI, and the Swiss Institute for Allergy and Asthma Research, with generous support from GA²LEN.

The meeting included 5 main symposia on innate immunity, adaptive immunity and regulation in allergic inflammation. Each symposium opened by a keynote lecture followed by presentations of participants as selected from their abstracts. The keynote speakers included: Fred Finkelman, Cincinnati, OH, Steven Galli, Stanford, CA; Barry Kay, London, UK; Kenneth Murphy, St. Louis, MO; Marsha Wills-Karp, Cincinnati, OH Federica Sallusto,Bellinzona,CH

As in previous years the meeting was open to 70 participants, who were selected based on the scientific quality of the submitted abstract. 25 abstracts were presented as oral presentations.

The goal of the meeting was to create an engaging scientific environment in which allergy and asthma related immunological concepts could be covered with ample time for discussions and young scientist would have the opportunity to directly interact with known capacities in the field.

Thilo Jakob
Chairman of the EAACI Immunology Section

Interasma & EAACI Asthma Section Meeting - Abstracts

Interasma & EAACI Asthma Section Meeting Abstract 1-11

Interasma & EAACI Asthma Section Meeting Abstract 12-23

Interasma and EAACI Asthma Section are holding a Joint Meeting, in Bilbao, Spain on 27 - 30 November, 2004. Outstanding personalities from the clinical and research area of allergy and clinical immunology will gather together to discuss on Asthma and Rhinitis, starting from the main guidelines to patient's care. The INTERASMA-EAACI Asthma Section Joint Meeting is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) to provide the following CME activity for medical specialists. The EACCME is an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), www.uems.net.  Following EACCME’s accreditation, the meeting has now been awarded 21 European CME credits (ECMEC).

Visit the official website of the Organisers, www.interasma.org/Bilbao2004 to get more information on the: 

- Preliminary Program
- On line registration
- Abstract submission  
- Student Grant applications
- EAACI CME Accredited event     
- Specific Adult and Paediatric tracks

The deadline for the grant application and abstract submission has now been extended to October 4th, 2004.

• Business Meeting of the Asthma Section held at the annual meeting of the European Academy for Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Berlin on 12 May, 2001.
  Click here to read the minutes.
  
  
• Business Meeting of the Asthma Section held at the annual meeting of the European Academy for Allergology and Clinical Immunology in Naples 2002.
  Held on the 2nd June, 2002 Room 9CD Conference Building, Mostra, d'Oltermare.
  Click here to read the minutes.
  
  
• Business Meeting of the Asthma Section of European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, held on the 7th June 2003, Room 251 Palais des Congres, Porte Maillot, Paris.
  Click here to read the minutes.
  
  

• Business Meeting of the Asthma Section of European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, held on the 13th June 2004, Room F, RAI Centre, Amsterdam.

  Click here to read the minutes.

  
  
• Minutes of the eaaci asthma section business meeting, held on Sunday 10 June 2007, Göteborg Convention Centre, room F6
  Click here to read the minutes.
  
  

Amsterdam 2004

• Business Meeting of the Asthma Section of European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology will be held on Sunday 13 June, 17.45-18.45, room F.
  
  
• Main Symposia
  
  
• Oral Presentations
  
  
• Poster Presentations

• Interasma - EAACI Asthma Section Joint Meeting
  Date: 27 - 30 November 2004
  Place: Bilbao, Spain
  Main Theme: Asthma and Rhinitis: from guidelines to patient´s care
  For more information click on www.interasma.org/bilbao2004
  
  
• 2nd EAACI-Davos Meeting
  Basic Immunology in Allergy and Clinical Immunology
  30 January-2 February 2003, Davos-Switzerland

• Adnan Custovic
• Alberto Papi
• Antoine Magnan
• Stefano Del Giacco
• Svetlana Sergejeva