President's Letter

30/01/2023

Dear colleagues, members and partners,

This year is an important milestone for SIOP Europe as it marks the Society’s 25th anniversary. To help celebrate this remarkable achievement, a new logo has been created and a dedicated webpage was also created to share our story.

We are very grateful for the support we have received to help us celebrate. You may have noticed a paediatric oncologist Smurf circulating on our social media channels? There are more exciting activities in the pipe to celebrate this occasion to come, so make sure you stay tuned.

This year also marks the return of physical events since the start of the pandemic. This month we will be organising the 13th edition of the International Childhood Cancer Day policy event in Brussels, Belgium and in May, SIOP Europe’s 4th Annual Meeting will take place in Valencia, Spain. If you have not yet registered to these events, good news: it’s not too late!

We are also delighted to announce the first edition of European Journal of Cancer: Paediatric Oncology will be available in the spring. If you wish to share your work with the community, this journal is the perfect place and SIOP Europe members benefit from special rates on the Open  Access Fee. There is no charge to publish in the journal until July 31, 2023. After this date, SIOP Europe Members benefit from a 60% discount until July 2025 and thereafter, a 50% discount until December 2031.

As always, we have included updates on all SIOP Europe activities in this newsletter edition.

We hope you enjoy reading us.

 

OncoPolicy News

This year’s ICCD policy event on “Contributing to childhood cancer survivorship in Europe: current programmes, emerging trends and furthering the agenda” will focus on childhood cancer survivorship and the role of the EU, Member States, and multi-stakeholder collaborations in improving their health, quality of life, and well-being. It will take place on Wednesday, 8 February 2023 from 1 – 3 PM CET at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels, Belgium and is hosted by Cindy Franssen MEP (EPP, Belgium). Registrations are still open and we strongly encourage you to attend. For more information, visit event ICCD 2023 webpage.

In this newsletter edition, you will also find updates on the SIOP Europe Access to Medicines Project and the SIOP Europe Comment on Paediatric Oncology Infrastructure and Research in Europe published in The Lancet Oncology.

 

4th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Oncology

The 4th edition of the SIOP Europe Annual Meeting will take place in person on 8-12 May 2023 in Valencia, Spain. This meeting is organised in partnership with CCI Europe and aims to foster a leading multidisciplinary platform for scientific exchange on all aspects of paediatric haemato-oncology. For more information about the event, please visit: https://siopeurope.eu/.

Don't miss the early-rate registration deadline: 27 February 2023. Reduced registration fees are guaranteed for members of SIOP Europe and CCI Europe, young oncologists, nurses and psychosocial experts.

The preliminary programme is available. Discover some of the specialised and focused meetings and make sure you don't miss the SIOP Europe Networking Event taking place on 10 May 2023 when we will be celebrating SIOP Europe’s 25th anniversary.

 

Updates on Educational Activities

The SIOP Europe Educational Steering Committee has put together an exciting educational programme for the 4th edition of the SIOP Europe Annual Meeting, make sure you check the preliminary programme for regular updates.

Young SIOPE and ERN PaedCan Interactive Webinar Series on Most Challenging cases in Paediatric Oncology, ESCP Webinars, ESO e-Learning, and CEDAR Webinars are back, offering a variety of educational opportunities. Two new courses for 2023, the next ESO-SIOPe Master Class, and a Summer School in PHO for medical students are also in the works, so keep your eyes peeled for further announcements.

 

Updates on Working Groups

The SIOP Europe Palliative Care Working Group in collaboration with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are undertaking a survey that aims to identify common beliefs about palliative care in European Paediatric Oncology Departments. Understanding physicians’ attitudes on paediatric palliative care is essential for the development of programmes that improve access to high-quality palliative care around the world, so if this is your field of expertise, please make sure you participate before 14 February.

Find more updates from the various SIOP Europe Working Groups in this edition of the SIOP Europe newsletter.

As always, we hope you will enjoy reading the latest updates from SIOP Europe. 

Stay tuned with SIOP Europe, best wishes to all of you.

Prof Carmelo Rizzari
SIOP Europe President