With the summer arriving, I am starting to look forward to our upcoming 37th ECNP Congress in Milan on 21-24 September.
A fabulous scientific and educational programme has been put together by the Scientific Programme Committee, who were guided by the wealth of symposium proposals submitted by the ECNP community. Congress registrations are increasing rapidly and, with a record of close to 2,000 abstract submissions this year, the scale of the meeting is going to be great! Note that registering for the congress is still possible either for in person or virtual participation.
I am really looking forward to the seven absolute top-notch keynote and plenary lectures, with groundbreaking insights into the neurobiology of addiction from keynote speaker Yasmin Hurd and exciting talks from Brain Prize winner Erin Schuman, ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award winner Elias Eriksson, Siri Leknes, Ivan de Araujo, Ann M. Graybiel, and Katharina Domschke. With 22 scientific symposia showcasing the latest discoveries in our field, seven educational sessions on recent developments in clinical neuroscience, and a host of other sessions and formats, the congress offers an outstanding platform for connecting science innovation to real-world clinical care. Keep a particular eye out too for the 33 campfire sessions that have been organised in the ‘Bubbles’ to allow for informal group discussions on emerging topics in the field, as well as the extensive industrial programme.
Furthermore, we will also have at the congress a New Frontiers Meeting follow-up session where we will discuss ECNP’s Precision Psychiatry Roadmap initiative with all primary stakeholders. Following the very successful ECNP New Frontiers Meeting in Nice last March, the steering committee mapped out a Precision Psychiatry Roadmap to call for global stakeholder alignment to reach agreement on a new integrated framework for mental disorders, harmonise measures, translational methodologies and data sets across the community, and mobilise resources to implement and validate the framework. The session will address the why and the how of this Roadmap and provide viewpoints from different stakeholders, such as patients, regulators, and industry and academia representatives.
At the congress, it will also be a great pleasure for me to welcome the first group of ECNP Early Career Academy members. This year, the inaugural 20 members were selected and at the congress we will have our first in-person meeting. The Academy is expected to grow to up to 100 members in the coming four years and become a great place for early career scientists to further develop their careers by, amongst other things, actively participating in one of our 25 ECNP Networks or Thematic Working Groups.
Wishing everybody a good summer perspective and hope to see you all in Milan!