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ANNUAL REPORT 2015

European Hematology Association

RSIN/fical number:

NL8090.86.864

Address:

Koninginnegracht 12b

2514 AA The Hague

The Netherlands

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 3-4

2. Report on Science/Research 5-6

2.1 Annual Congress

2.2 Career Development

2.3 European Affairs

2.4 Haematologica

3. Report on Medical Education Program & Outreach 6-9

3.1 Introduction Medical Education Program

3.2 EHA Learning Center

3.3 EHA-SWG Scientific Meetings

3.4 Competence Survey

3.5 Outreach; Hematology Tutorials & additional outreach events

4 Report on Membership and National Societies 10

4.1 EHA Membership

4.2 National Societies

5 Report on Finances 11-12

6 ANNEXES 12-19

6.2 Overview Board and Committees

6.3 Organogram

6.4 EHA Executive Office

6.5 2014 Corporate Sponsors

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1. Introduction

EHA promotes excellence in research, education and patient care in hematology. By organizing an

annual congress, providing an education program based on the European hematology curriculum,

publishing a journal, lobbying for hematology and promoting research the association supports

hematologists in- and outside Europe to further improve hematology patient care. With over 4.000

members and with around 11.000 hematologists attending its annual congress, EHA is the largest

organization representing hematology in Europe.

The EHA Board is in charge of the Association. Through a nomination and ballot procedure, members

elect the EHA Board. The EHA Board appoints from its members the Executive Board, existing of a

Chairman, with the title of “president”, a president elect, a secretary and a treasurer. The term as

President is succeeded by a two year term as Past President and member of the Executive Board.

• The president chairs the Business meeting (General Assembly)

• The secretary is responsible for the secretariat and the membership records of the

Association. He ensures that minutes are taken of all meetings of the EHA Board and that all

persons concerned are invited.

• The treasurer is responsible for the accounts and all financial matters of the Association.

The Association is audited externally every year.

Composition of the Executive Board

President: Tony Green

Past President: Christine Chomienne

President Elect: Pieter Sonneveld

Secretary: Martina Muckenthaler

Treasurer: Andreas Engert

The association is supported by an Executive Office with 24 staff members and is located in The

Hague, The Netherlands.

This annual report contains an overview of the activities of the association in 2015. These activities

derive from the course EHA is following in order to achieve its mission to promote excellence in

research, education and patient care in hematology. In 2014 the EHA Board reviewed and updated

the association’s course for the next five years which can be summarized as follows:

1. To further strengthen basic, translational and clinical research in hematology

2. To continue to strive for lifelong learning in hematology by offering various peer-reviewed, high

quality and unbiased educational tools in various formats, suitable for different target groups

in- and outside Europe

3. To represent and advocate the interests of hematology and hematologists in European politics

4. To further improve its relationship with and the involvement of its stakeholders

Being a non-profit membership organization EHA is and will be fully aware of its responsibilities,

while executing its activities. Therefore the EHA Board reinforced its principles which are leading in

all the activities the association undertakes.

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1. EHA should serve the hematology community through its members and National Societies. In

that respect EHA should be transparent, unbiased, inclusive, a provider of

information/education, and a strong representative at the European level.

2. Towards pharmaceutical companies, EHA should be a reliable partner and a strong academic

counterpart with clear principles.

3. Towards patient organizations, EHA should be a partner organization with common goals and

provide services, information and education.

4. Towards governments and EU authorities, EHA should be a strong representative of hematology

with a strong EU commitment, and a reliable partner and source of information.

Chapters 2 to 5 contain an overview of EHA’s activities in the area of science/research, education

and outreach, membership and additional activities. The 2015 financial report is presented in

chapter 6.

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2. Report on Science/Research

2.1 ANNUAL CONGRESS

In 2015 the 20th Congress of EHA was organized in Vienna, Austria. For this congress, which was

attended by 9,714 participants, 2,200 abstracts were submitted. For the second year in a row late

breaking abstracts could be submitted; 58 of these abstracts, with clinical and non-clinical data,

were submitted. Seven abstracts were selected for oral presentations and 12 were selected for

poster walks and E-posters. Three new sessions were introduced in the program:

• EU Funded Projects in Hematology

• EHA-TSH-ISHBT Joint Symposium

• Haematologica Celebration session

2.2 CAREER DEVELOPMENT

EHA’s Career Development program promotes European research in hematology and supports young

basic, clinical and translational researchers in pursuing their career goals by offering a number of

fellowships and training opportunities. Each fellowship has a specific target aimed at fulfilling the

need of hematological researchers in different stages of their career, a certain area in hematology

or a specific region. EHA Fellowships are also open to EHA members from non-European countries.

This year 10 winners were awarded in the following categories:

1. Clinical Research Fellowships ; 2 winners

2. Non-Clinical Junior Research Fellowships; 3 winners

3. Non-Clinical Advanced Research Fellowships; 2 winners

4. EHA-JSH Collaboration Exchange Fellowship; 2 winners

5. Short Term Visiting Award; 1 winner

In addition, 20 winners of the prestigious Translational Research in Hematology Training Award 2015

(TRTH) were selected. This program has been developed by EHA in close collaboration with the

American Society of Hematology and provides a yearlong intensive training to high potential

translational researchers who are at the beginning of their career. The spring course in March was

the kick-off for this intense one year training and mentoring experience.

2.3 EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

Research Roadmap

In 2014 the project “Roadmap for Research in Hematology in Europe” was initiated. The manuscript

was written by close to 300 authors, and reflects the state of the art and the future needs for

hematology research. Subsequently, in 2015 the manuscript was reviewed by internal and external

stakeholders (national societies, patient organizations, etc.), finalized and submitted to

Haematologica. With this document EHA will provide policy makers (politicians and civil servants)

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with the facts that allow them to make well-balanced and informed decisions on the distribution of

research funds.

Study into the Cost of Blood disorders

In 2015, the study that was commissioned to the University of Oxford in 2014 into the Cost of Blood

disorders was performed. The goal of the study was to provide an estimate of the economic costs of

blood disorders for 31 countries across Europe i.e. the 28 member states of the European Union (EU-

28), Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. Blood disorders have been defined as ICD-10 categories; C81-

C96, D47, D50-D89. Economic costs fall into three categories: (1) direct health care costs (i.e.

primary care services, emergency care, hospital inpatient care, hospital outpatient care, and drugs

& medical products), (2) informal care costs (i.e. unpaid care provided by friends and relatives) and

(3) productivity losses (i.e. losses due to early mortality and temporary/permanent absence from

work). The study will be finalized and submitted to a scientific journal in 2016.

2.4 HAEMATOLOGICA

As the scientific journal of EHA, Haematologica is determined to focus on excellence in the three

core areas of scientific publishing: (1) excellent scientific content of articles, (2) excellent peer

review process, (3) excellent production process and dissemination.

The impact factor (based on citations of 2014 to papers published in 2012+2013) was 5.814.

Haematologica is ranked 6th of 68 hematology journals.

This year Haematologica celebrated its 100th Volume with a special celebration Session at the

Annual Congress in Vienna and a special celebration publication.

Being an open access journal provides the scientific community with the possibility to view, read,

and download articles and use the information for their professional development. All EHA members

received a hardcopy of Haematologca by regular mail.

2015 figures:

The website haematologica.org: 4.1 million imprints.

The Haematologica homepage: 358,594 views

Table of contents: 305,009 views

Abstracts & full text article views: 2.4 million views

Article pdfs: 967,267 downloads

3. Report on EHA’s Medical Education Program & Outreach

3.1 INTRODUCTION MEDICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM As a knowledge platform, the association offers a comprehensive and integral curriculum which forms the basis of the Medical Education Program, through which professionals acquire state-of-the-art knowledge by use of various means. Through the global connection, EHA makes peer-reviewed knowledge available from Reykjavik to Athens, which is directly applicable in practice. This allows professionals to always be aware of latest trends, developments, publications and studies.

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EHA’s Medical Education Program is based on the following principles:

• CME: Continuous Medical Education • Integrated approach: • Comprehensive state-of-the-art curriculum (eight areas of

special interest) • Cross-media (online: ELC, publications and on-site: events) • Users are informed of the latest trends, developments,

publications and research, including results • Connects professionals with an interest in hematology on a

global level • The shared knowledge is independent and peer-reviewed • Representing hematology as a mono-specialty

3.2 EHA LEARNING CENTER OFFICIAL LEARNING PLATFORM OF EHA

The EHA Learning Center is expanding. Thousands of users use the Learning Center every month

read watch and browse through the extensive offer of online learning activities and scientific

material.

A broad variety of educational tools including webcasts, topic related interviews with Key Opinion

Leaders, accredited courses and online patient cases as well as the annual congress materials are

available on one platform. EHA members have free access to all peer reviewed and evidence based

learning materials. Congress delegates have temporary and free access to the annual congress

materials. EHA Guests have access to materials that are freely available.

The focus on the development of more e-learning tools always related to one or more topics of the

European Hematology Curriculum will increase in 2016.

Around the Annual Congress 20.000 visits were logged to find out the latest updates in hematology

knowledge.

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3.3 EHA-SWG SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

EHA facilitates 19 Scientific Working Groups (SWGs), which are active networks of scientists with an

interest in particular topics. The EHA-SWG Scientific Meetings are established as scientifically

focused meetings, which aim to exchange scientific knowledge and promote collaboration within

the hematology community. The meetings cover both hematologic malignancies and nonmalignant

topics. The programs deliver experts’ perspectives on the latest findings, offer discussions with

patient organizations, interactive clinical cases and round table sessions. Furthermore it provides an

opportunity to discuss evolving therapies with leading experts in hematology as well as the

opportunity to network among faculty and colleagues.

In 2015 four EHA-SWG Scientific meetings were organized.

• EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting red cell and iron disorders and myeloidysplastic syndrome (MDS)

March 6-8, 2015 – 96 participants

• EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting aging and hematology; the next questions…. May 8-9, 2015 – 65 participants

• EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting integrated approach to demanding hematological diagnoses from MDS to leukemias September 10-12, 2015 – 102 participants

• EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting critical issues and therapeutic approaches September 18-20, 2015 – 100 participants

3.4 EHA MASTERCLASS

The EHA Master Class is an online problem-based group learning experience for hematologists. The

course, developed for junior as well as senior hematologists, is aimed to contribute to enhancing

the harmonization and quality of hematology practice across Europe and beyond.

In 2015, 28 mentees successfully finished the EHA Classical Master Class of 2014-2015. In that year,

two Bite Size courses have been held in February and October on the topics Thrombosis,

Thrombophilia and Anticoagulation and on Thalassemia in which 22 mentees have received their

certificate of participation.

3.4 COMPETENCE SURVEY

In order to monitor the development of professional competences in hematology in Europe, the

European Professional Competence Survey was initiated in October 2014. The European Professional

Competence Survey is based on the self-assessment of knowledge, skills, and competences of

hematologists.

Based on their self-assessment, an analysis will be made concerning the quality and completeness of

hematology training provided throughout Europe. Based on the analysis of the results, areas in

educational programs needing improvement can be identified at national and regional levels. This

information will be important input for educational institutions to further develop their program in

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these specific areas. Improving education will raise the overall standards in hematology, which

ultimately will lead to improved patient care.

Various promotional campaigns were launched in 2015. 105 people completed the survey in 2015,

which brings the total at the end of 2015 on 333 completed surveys, spread over different career

phases and most European countries.

A first preliminary analysis was made in May 2015. These first results confirmed that there are

differences in knowledge level throughout Europe. To perform a more in-depth and representative

analysis, a larger sample is needed. In 2016 the focus will therefore lie with the recruitment of

survey participants.

3.5 OUTREACH

For many years EHA has an Outreach Program which is aimed at providing hematology medical

education to countries outside Europe that expressed an interest in co-organizing such education

and training in their county. One of the core principles in this program is these at educational

events are always organized based on the needs as indicated by these countries.

EHA’s Outreach Program consists of Hematology Tutorials, joint symposia and “The Best of EHA”,

which is based on the program of EHA’s annual congress.

Hematology Tutorials

Hematology Tutorials are courses aiming to provide laboratory and clinical hematologists with an

integrated diagnostic and clinical work-up of hematological disorders.

In 2015 three Hematology Tutorials took place.

• Hematology Tutorial on diagnosis,prognosis and management today of hematologic malignancies

(with a focus on stem cell transplantation) Yeravan, Armenia from March 27-29, 2015 – 60

participants

• TSH-EHA Tutorial on bone marrow failure – congenital and acquired aplastic anemia

myeloidysplastic syndromes in Erzurum, Turkey from April 25-26, 2015 - 40 participants • Hematology Tutorial on anemia of chronic disease and myeloidysplastic syndromes in Prague,

Czech Republic, from November 13-14, 2015 – 89 participants.

In addition the following outreach activities took place in 2015

• EHA - Pan-Arab Hematology Association Joint Symposium • EHA - Emirates Haematology Congress Joint Symposium • EHA - Hematology Society of Taiwan - Joint Symposium • CSH Leukemia Congress - CSH-EHA Joint Symposium • EHA - Russian Onco-Hematology Society Joint Symposium • EHA - Turkish Society of Hematology Joint Symposium • Best of EHA - Argentinian Hematology Congress • EHA - Korean Society of Hematology - Joint Symposium • EHA - Indian Society of Haematology & Blood Transfusion - Joint Symposium

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4. Report on Membership and National Hematology Societies 4.1 EHA membership Members are the core of EHA. To better suit their needs a new tangible benefit to the Membership program was introduced: unlimited access to all content of the EHA Learning Center. The total number of active EHA members in 2015 is: 4.022 members

Country Full

Members

Junior Members Health Care Affiliated

Professionals

Emeritus Members

Expiring Junior Members Total

< 36 years 36 years

United Kingdom 209 177 2 14 6 408

Italy 147 147 23 4 321

Germany 182 98 10 7 297

Netherlands 177 77 4 6 3 267

United States 171 62 2 25 4 264

Spain 95 136 1 6 2 240

Australia 99 43 2 18 162

France 85 53 1 9 148

Switzerland 115 21 8 2 146

Belgium 70 48 1 1 2 122

Sweden 56 29 9 1 95

Austria 39 46 1 3 1 90

Portugal 23 64 1 88

Japan 66 13 6 85

Greece 44 25 1 1 71

Turkey 30 27 2 59

Egypt 23 29 2 2 56

Canada 30 17 7 54

Russian Federation 13 31 1 1 1 47

Czech Republic 20 25 1 46

4.2 National Hematology Societies In the ambition to strengthen relationships with national societies and enhance mutually beneficial collaboration, a working group was established. In 2015 an extensive online survey was held to which 34 countries’ representatives responded. In a meeting in October the outcomes with the national societies was discussed and will be translated into an effective plan of action.

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5. Report on Finances

EHA is a Common Good Organization under Dutch law. Profits generated from its congress are

invested in other activities to that serve the hematology community. The Board and Committee

members contribute on a voluntary basis to the association’s work. Expenses for meetings are

reimbursed. The EHA executive office has its own employment arrangements. The employees in the

Executive Office function according to various job profiles, which are linked to the remuneration

policy. The remuneration of the management team in 2015 was € 164.157. The individual wages do

not exceed the VPI (Balkenende) norm. Every year a financial audit is executed by an independent

certified auditor which resulted for 2015 in a positive auditor statement. A summary of EHA’s

financial position is mentioned below.

Balance sheet as per December 31, 2015

2015 2014

Assets

Fixed assets € 212.291 € 248.562

Current Assets € 11.968.730 € 11.304.639

Total Assets € 12.181.021 € 11.553.201

Liabilities

Equity € 6.664.877 € 6.370.783

Current liabilities € 5.516.144 € 5.182.418

Total liabilities € 12.181.021 € 11.553.201

State of income and expenses 2015

2015 2014

Income € 9.637.776 € 9.219.331

Expenses

Annual conference € 4.957.343 € 4.950.177

Fellowships and grants € 1.480.468 € 1.533.000

Other and general expenses *** € 1.506.266 € 1.388.844

Activities € 1.280.858 € 1.142.033

Housing and depreciation € 193.376 € 198.817

Total expenses € 9.418.311 € 9.212.871

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Operational result € 219.465 € 6.460

Interest and taxes 74.629 € 343.158

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Result € 294.094 € 349.618

*** Including staff costs

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Notes to the statements:

General Accounting Principles for the preparation of the financial statements:

The financial statements are prepared according to Part 9 Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code.

Validation of assets and liabilities and determination of the result takes place under the historical

cost convention. Unless presented otherwise at the relevant principle for the specific balance sheet

item, assets and liabilities are presented at faced value. Income and expenses are accounted for on

accrual basis. Profit is only included when realized on the balance sheet date. Losses originating

before the end of the financial year are taken into account if they have become known before

preparation of the financial statements. Revenues from services are recognized in proportion to the

services rendered. The cost price of these services is allocated to the same period.

Note to the balance sheet:

The Equity of EHA is reserved for the continuity of the organization in general. The financial aspects

of these long term risks are covered by the Equity of EHA.

6. Annexes 6.1 Overview Board and Committees EXECUTIVE BOARD AR Green, United Kingdom (President) P Sonneveld, the Netherlands (President Elect) C Chomienne, France (Past President) M Muckenthaler, Germany (Secretary) A Engert, Germany (Treasurer) COUNCILORS S Fröhling, Germany G Gaidano, Italy J Gribben, United Kingdom S Izraeli, Israel L Macintyre, France MV Mateos, Spain G Ossenkoppele, the Netherlands K Porkka, Finland F Rodeghiero, Italy V Sexl, Austria COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE A Hagenbeek, the Netherlands (Chair) C Chomienne, France J Cools, Belgium S Fröhling, Germany

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E Macintyre, France S McCann, Ireland I Roberts, United Kingdom CURRICULUM COMMITTEE CH Toh, United Kingdom (Chair) A Almeida, Portugal M Cem Ar, Turkey M Guenova, Bulgaria E Hellström Lindberg, Sweden (ex-officio) M Liljeholm, Sweden JT Navarro Ferrando, Spain G Ossenkoppele, the Netherlands M Wondergem, the Netherlands EARLY CAREER ADVISORY GROUP V Gaidzik, Germany (Chair) A Ramsay, USA AK Eisfeld, USA C Scharenberg, Sweden F McClanahan, USA H Becker, Germany M Isabel, Portugal M Gruber, USA M Mraz, Czech Republic EDUCATION COMMITTEE R Foà, Italy (Chair) H Akan, Turkey OW Bjerrum, Denmark C Chomienne, France J Delgado, Spain C Dufour, Italy A Ganser, Germany AR Green, United Kingdom S Modok, Hungary G Ossenkoppele, the Netherlands A Tichelli, Switzerland CH Toh, United Kingdom EHA LEARNING CENTER EDITORIAL BOARD G Ossenkoppele, the Netherlands (Chair) MC Béné, France D Bron, Belgium S Eichinger, Denmark G Gaidano, Italy N Kröger, Germany J Palmblad, Sweden K Porkka, Finland D Prati, Italy

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EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE U Jäger, Austria (Chair) D Bron, Belgium C Chomienne, France A Hagenbeek, the Netherlands P Sonneveld, the Netherlands A Engert, Germany E Macintyre, France J Geissler, Germany R Hehlmann, Germany EUROPEAN BOARD FOR ACCREDITATION IN HEMATOLOGY A Tichelli, Switzerland (Chair) H Akan, Turkey M Guenova, Bulgaria P Rebulla, Italy I Roberts, United Kingdom M Vilarmau, Spain M Mohty, France M Lozano, Spain A Falanga, Italy FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS COMMITTEE M Muckenthaler, Germany (Chair) J Bourquin, Switzerland R Delwel, the Netherlands J Eikenboom, the Netherlands S Fröhling, Germany R Handgretinger, Germany T Holyoake, United Kingdom FUNDRAISING AND SPONSOR COMMITTEE U Jäger, Austria (Chair) R Foà, Italy S Fröhling, Germany F Rodeghiero, Italy P Sonneveld, the Netherlands GOOD GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE W Fibbe, the Netherlands (Chair) T Barbui, Italy L Degos, France M Guenova, Bulgaria L Malcovati, Italy MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE S Fröhling, Germany (Chair) H Cavé, France J Çermák, Czech Republic J Cools, Belgium

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NOMINATION COMMITTEE E Hellström Lindberg, Sweden (Chair) C Camaschella, Italy H Döhner, Germany W Fibbe, the Netherlands J San Miguel, Spain ONLINE & CASE UNIT S Modok, Hungary (Chair) B Bain, United Kingdom J Burthem, United Kingdom S McCann, Ireland MF McMullin, Ireland C McNamara, United Kingdom M Cem Ar, Turkey SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM COMMITTEE 21ST CONGRESS A Engert, Germany (Chair) M Beksac, Turkey H Dombret, France S Eichinger, Austria J Eikenboom, the Netherlands A Fielding, United Kingdom S Fröhling, Germany D Grimwade, United Kingdom S Izraeli, Israel J Jansen, the Netherlands H Ludwig, Denmark MV Mateos, Spain C Moreno, Spain M Muckenthaler, Germany JA Perez-Simon, Spain A Reiter, Germany S Soverini, Italy S Stanworth, United Kingdom A Sureda, Spain CH Toh, United Kingdom MM van den Heuvel-Eibrink, the Netherlands LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE 21ST CONGRESS H Birgens, Denmark SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM COMMITTEE ADVISORY BOARD 21ST CONGRESS J Bourquin, Switzerland M Delforge, Belgium N Gökbuget, Germany B Göttgens, United Kingdom K Grønbæk, Denmark JB Hansen, Norway H Hasle, Denmark M Hutchings, Denmark JJ Kiladjian, France

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N Kröger, Germany T Lapidot, Israel A Nagler, Israel M Olsson, Sweden G Ossenkoppele, the Netherlands RA Padua, France D Pospíšilová, Czech Republic D Prati, Italy D Rees, United Kingdom N Russell, United Kingdom S Saußele, Germany H Tamary, Israel H Veelken, the Netherlands SWG UNIT P Sonneveld, the Netherlands (Chair) MC Béné, France M Dreyling, Germany C Dufour, Italy R Foà, Italy D Grimwade, United Kingdom A Iolascon, Italy L Malcovati, Italy G Ossenkoppele, the Netherlands TRTH JOINT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE R Delwel, the Netherlands M Dinauer, USA C Dunbar, USA D Grimwade, United Kingdom S Izraeli, Israel J Licht, USA D Neuberg, USA (Advisor)

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6.2

Organogram

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6.3 EHA Executive Office

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6.4 Corporate Sponsors