GA2LEN News Nr13 - EAACI.org april 08.pdf · GA2LEN News Nr13 27/03/08 10:37 Page 3. 4 Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma GA2LEN News N°13 WP achievements WP 1.5 is currently

Contents

2 Annual ConferenceParis

4 WP achievements

6 Recent publications

7 In the pipeline

8 Education - Training

9 EU News

10 Who's who

12 Calendar

More than 100 participants, GA2LENpartners, Collaborating Centres, andindustry sponsors, are expected topresent GA2LEN work packagesprogresses and discuss researchactivities in 2008 and beyond.

Editor:GA2LEN Dissemination c/o Interel

Rue du Luxembourg 22-24 1000 Brussels

Tel: +32 2 213 13 60 Fax: +32 2 213 13 63

[email protected]

www.ga2len.net

Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma

newsN°13

Some of the latest GA2LENachievements are highlighted in thisissue. You will also find dates to bookin your agenda: forthcoming allergyschools and congresses.

GA2LEN Annual Conferencewill take place from 10 to 12 April 2008 at the hotelConcorde La Fayette in Paris.

Progress towards ageneric research platform

Annual Conference

Paris 2008

Allergies...Allergies...

Are you sure you are not at risk?You may be allergic without knowing it!

GA2LEN News Nr13 27/03/08 10:37 Page 1

Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma2 GA2LEN News N°13

Annual Conference 2008

Annual Conference Programme

Timing Sessions Name of room09.00-12.00 Executive Committee Salon Sisley12.00-13.30 Advisory Board, incl. lunch Salon Sisley 14.00-17.30 ASSEMBLY Salon Vendôme/Palais-Royal17.30-19.30 WP meeting 2.7.1 Salon Trocadero17.30-19.30 WP meeting 2.7.3 Salon Utrillo/Manet18.00-19.30 WP meeting 2.2.3 Salon Monceau18.00-19.30 Sponsors Meeting Salon Sisley

Thursday 10 April

Timing Sessions Name of room09.00-17.30 PLENARY SESSION Salon Vendôme/Palais Royal11.30-12.30 Poster sessions Etoile/Longchamp

Friday 11 April

Saturday 12 April

Timing Sessions Name of room10.00-16.00 PUBLIC DAY Salon Vendôme/Palais Royal

(French Speaking Patients Associations)Vous faites peut-être de l'allergie sans le savoir !

09.00-17.30 Severe asthma meeting Salon Sisley

The meeting will take place on 12thApril and will include both GA2LENand BIOAIR members. Topics fordiscussion will include planning forthe future of Severe Asthma networksin Europe, as well as ongoing GA2LENSevere Asthma activities.

Treating Severe Asthma is a greatunmet need in Europe and highpriority should be given tounderstanding the mechanisms andthe development of new medicines.The new FP7 programme Innovative

Medicines Initiative (IMI) is puttingparticular emphasis on SevereAsthma. Several millions of Euro peryear will be invested during a 5-yearperiod. It is therefore timely for theGA2LEN Severe Asthma network tomeet and discuss how such fundingcould be used for building newplatforms for research and SevereAsthma networks.

The meeting will also be used toreview pan-European investments inimprovement of techniques for

bronchoscopies and the building of atissue biobank consisting of bronchialbiopsies of Severe Asthma patients tobe compared with healthy controlsand subjects with other asthmaphenotypes.

For more information please contact [email protected]

Severe Asthma network meeting 12th April 2008

In conjunction with the GA2LEN Annual Conference in Paris, WP 2.8.1b willorganise a whole day Severe Asthma meeting.


Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma 3

Annual Conference 2008 for Patients

GA2LEN News N°13

The joint workshop will focus on thesignificance of results for patients andthe tools developed by both projectsfor the general public and patients.

The workshop will be introduced byMarianella Salapatas, EFA ActingPresident and GA2LEN Team Leader.Asthma will at the centre ofdiscussion with talks on severe

The GA2LEN Public day is organisedthis year in collaboration with EFA andfive of its member associations inFrance and French speaking Belgium.

The day is designed for patients andtheir families on the theme:“Allergies... Are you sure you are not at risk?”.

Launch of the GA2LENcampaign in France “Doesrhinitis lead to asthma? - La rhinite mène-t-elle àl'asthme?” The Public Day will also be theopportunity to present the Frenchbrochures “Does rhinitis lead toasthma?”. The campaign successfullystarted in Belgium on 13 March 2008.

asthma, sports and asthma andoccupational asthma. Pet ownershipand aspirin sensitivity will also beaddressed.

Claire Mills, EuroPrevall Coordinator,will present results on prevalence,quality of life and socio-economicaspects of food allergy, which will bethe core of the EuroPrevall session. A

representative of the EuropeanCommission, DG Health andConsumer Protection will give anupdate on EU food labelling policy.EuroPrevall is an EU-funded projecton the “Prevalence, Cost and Basis ofFood Allergy in Europe”.

www.europrevell.org

Latest research results communicatedto patients’ representatives EFA-GA2LEN-EuroPrevall workshop, 10 April 2008

GA2LEN and EU project on food allergy EuroPrevall will present their latestresearch results to members of EFA, the European Federation of Allergy andAirway Diseases Patients Associations.

GA2LEN Public Day in French12 April 2008



WP achievements

WP 1.5 is currently analysing the birthcohorts data, especially the significanceof pet exposure for asthma and allergyand the patterns of sensitisation.

A workshop on "How to assess pubertyin European birth cohort studies?"wasorganised in September 2007 with WP2.5 “Gender” to ensure the genderfactor is fully taken into account infuture birth cohorts.

WP 1.5 has started a collaborationwith the AllerGen network from

Canada with a first meeting inAmsterdam in November 2007.Representatives of GA2LEN WP 1.5.joined AllerGen third annualconference in Banff, Alberta, 9-12February 2008 and GA2LEN washappy to welcome Allan Becker atGA2LEN Annual Conference 2008.

Susanne Lau, Thomas KeilWP 1.5 Birth cohorts

■ the "Leicester 1990" and

■ "Leicester 1998" UK cohorts lead byClaudia Kuehni, Berne, Switzerland,and Mike Silverman, Leicester, UK.

■ the "VGB” cohorts of Western GothiaChildren, is a study from Swedenconducted by Göran Wennergren andBernt Alm, Gothenburg.

■ "ALADDIN" is a cohorts from Järna,near Stockholm in Sweden. Theresponsible investigator is JohanAlm, Stockholm, Sweden.

24 birth cohorts are now part of the birth cohorts database and collaboratingwith WP 1.5. 4 new cohorts have been included in 2007:

GA2LEN Birth Cohorts, 24 on board

questions and comments to thespeakers during and after their talks.

Dip & discuss poster sessions withdinner and drinks providing a relaxedand stimulatory atmosphere forscientific exchange. The eveningsessions gave young researchers theopportunity to meet senior scientists.

Main abstracts are available in thecongress book, where speakers presenttheir current concepts on their area ofimmune regulation in detail. In thatsense, the congress book is a state ofthe art document on immuneregulation.

As promised the organizing committeepresented a great scientificprogramme, a surprising socialprogramme and a warm smile.

Prof. Dr. Cezmi AkdisLeader of GA2LEN WP 2.6.2 T regulatory cells

Download the congress book:http://www.wirm.ch/WTM/Overview.html

Immune regulation has been a hotissue in basic and clinical sciencesand there was no doubt that weneeded to gather and get inspired.This year a special focus on“regulatory cells and Th17 cells” wasselected. There was 12 unopposedplenary symposia with 52 mainspeakers. 48 oral presentations werediscussed in 8 workshops and morethan 300 posters were presented. Theorganizers provided an efficientinternet forum, which enabled

The Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), GA2LEN centre 28,welcomed approximately 700 world immunologists to the 2nd World ImmuneRegulation Meeting (WIRM 2) in Davos, organised in collaboration with WP2.6.2 “Regulatory T-cells”.

Successful 2nd World ImmuneRegulation Meeting

3 prices were awarded byscientific journals:Nature Immunology, NatureImmunology Reviews andTrends in Immunology


Spreading excellence in allergy and asthmaGA2LEN News N°13

WP achievements

Severe asthma in children is thusfar poorly defined. For the purposeof identifying and characterizingsevere asthma in children,particularly for preschool-aged andelder children, a work group wasconstituted within GA2LEN as partof WP2.8.1a Clinical Care and incollaboration with WP2.8.1b Severeasthma. The first meetings tookplace in Göteborg in June 2007

GA2LEN-ANCONAcollaboration on childhood asthmaphenotypes

Workshop on childhood severe asthma phenotypes organised by Gunilla Hedlin, Karolinska Institute, Partner 24, andKai-Håkon Carlsen, Oslo, Partner 17 on 31 January 2008.

and Stockholm in September 2007.The group suggested that a series ofpapers should be produced onchildhood severe asthmaphenotypes, which would includecharacterization and mechanisticand therapeutic considerations ofsevere asthma in children. Apreviously constituted group ofEuropean paediatricians engaged inchildhood severe asthma (the

ANCONA group) were invited to joinin this task. The successfulGA2LEN-ANCONA workshop washeld on 31st January 2008 at theKarolinska Institute, and it resultedin the distribution of the tasks forwriting the first paper, which iscurrently in progress.

WP 2.8.1a and WP 2.8.1b, More information [email protected]

5

Activities of WP2.8.2 Sport andasthma have actively contributedto the work of a task force betweenthe European Respiratory Society(ERS) and the European Academyof Allergy and Clinical Immunology(EAACI) on “recognising anddiagnosing exercise related toasthma, respiratory and allergicdisorders in sports”. The first partof the Task Force report has beenpublished in the April Issue of

Allergy, the second part will followin May.

The paper concludes that theprevalence of asthma andbronchial hyperresponsiveness ismarkedly increased in athletes,especially within endurance sports.Environmental factors oftencontribute. Recommendations forthe diagnosis of asthma in athletesare outlined.

WP 2.8.2 Sport and Asthma

Ref: K. H. Carlsen, S. D. Anderson, L. Bjermer, S. Bonini, V. Brusasco, W.Canonica, and al. (2008) Exercise-induced asthma, respiratory andallergic disorders in elite athletes: epidemiology, mechanisms anddiagnosis: Part I of the report from the Joint Task Force of the EuropeanRespiratory Society (ERS) and the European Academy of Allergy andClinical Immunology (EAACI) in cooperation with GA2LEN

Allergy 63 (4) , 387-403 doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2008.01662.x

Recognising and diagnosing exercise related to asthma, respiratory andallergic disorders in sports

EAACI-ERS-GA2LEN publication on exercise related asthma



Publications

The 150-page update of the ARIArecommendations, Allergic Rhinitisand Its Impact on Asthma, werepublished in March 2003 incollaboration with the World HealthOrganisation, GA2LEN and AllerGen,the Canadian network. More than 60 authors and a review group ofexperts contributed to the updatethat covers characterisation,diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Approximately 500 million peoplesuffer from allergic rhinitisworldwide

■ over 100 million people inEurope and North America.

■ over 150 million in Asia-Pacific.

■ over 100 million in India,Pakistan and surroundingcountries.

■ over 75 million in Central andSouth America.

■ over 30 million in Africa.

■ over 50 million in othercountries.

About 200 million people alsohave asthma as a comorbidity.

ARIA Update in collaboration with WHO, GA2LEN and AllerGen

Ref: J. Bousquet, N. Khaltaev, A. A. Cruz, J. Denburg, W. J. Fokkens, A. Togias, et al.(2008) Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) 2008 Update (in collaboration with the World Health Organization, GA2LEN* and AllerGen**)

Allergy 63 (s86), pages 8-160.

ARIA website: www.whiar.org

Health promotion, Primary andsecondary prevention

■ Breastfeeding isrecommended regardless ofthe atopic background of theinfant.

■ Current dietary manipulationsof maternal and infant feedingdo not have a preventive rolefor atopic diseases and arenot recommended.

■ Environmental tobacco smokeshould be avoided in pregnantwomen and children althoughmore data are needed.

■ Conflicting data existsconcerning the early-lifeexposure to pets and thedevelopment of atopy. Nogeneral recommendation canbe made.

■ House dust mite avoidance ininfancy has inconsistenteffects on the development ofallergy or asthma and cannotbe recommended.

■ Primary prevention of OAD[occupational asthma] isrecommended.

■ Secondary prevention of asthmais still a matter of debate andmore data is needed.

HRT and asthma, atopy, lung function - WP 2.5 Gender

The association of asthma, atopyand lung function with hormonereplacement therapy andsurgical cessation ofmenstruation in a population-based sample of English women

D. Jarvis, B. Leynaert

Allergy Vol. 63 Issue 1 Page 95January 2008

Second scientific paper of the GA2LEN Campaign “Does rhinitis lead toasthma?” GA2LEN WP 3.2in collaboration with EFA,IPCRG, WONCA

Primary care: the cornerstone ofdiagnosis of allergic rhinitis

D. Ryan, C. van Weel, J. Bousquet, E. Toskala, S. Ahlstedt, S. Palkonen,L. van den Nieuwenhof, T. Zuberbier,M. Wickman, W. Fokkens.

Allergy, in press

Annual report 2008

The GA2LEN fourth annual report (more than 3.000 pagesand 12 kgs of paper!) has been submitted to the EC on March 14th.

The GA2LEN office andcoordination team would like tothank all partners that haveactively contributed to itspreparation. You can find onthe GA2LEN partner website, inthe “My GA2LEN” section (clickon “Annual report 2008” in theleft menu) the main reports assent to the Commission and tothe experts that will review theproject on April 8th. Please feelfree to contact the GA2LENoffice, should you have anyquestion about the [email protected]


Spreading excellence in allergy and asthmaGA2LEN News N°13 7

In the pipeline

to fear of heavy environmentalpollution in Beijing. This initiative ledto a general GA2LEN study includingGA2LEN centres in 10 Europeancountries. The protocol was already setup during autumn 2007, and thestudy has already started in somecentres.

The objective of the study is toinvestigate the prevalence of asthma,bronchial responsiveness, allergicrhinitis and exercise inducedanaphylaxis among the top nationalathletes in the different European

countries. A previous study showed theprevalence of these disorders amongtop athletes of different types of sportsas well as in different locations, asthere is a geographical variation in thepopularity of different types of sportsaround Europe.

The prevalence of asthma ranges from3.7 to 22.8 % in summer sports andfrom 2.8 to 54.8% in winter sports.Rhinitis too occurs with a highprevalence in athletes, up to 56% ofthe Olympic populations studied.

WP 2.8.2 Sport and asthma

On the request of the NorwegianOlympic Committee, a study was setup to assess the prevalence of asthmaand allergic diseases amongparticipants for the Beijing OlympicGames August 2008 in particular due

4 Partners and 1 Collaborative centrein Poland, Germany, Portugal, Greeceand Finland will assess whether thequestionnaire is an accurateinstrument to estimate dietary intakeacross different regions of Europe.The FFQ is being compared to 2

GA2LEN WP 2.9 and ERS, theEuropean Respiratory Society, organisea 3-day research seminar from 6-8November 2008. A First researchseminar on the same theme was heldin January 2002 to sensitizerespiratory epidemiologists to thepotentials of genetic and genomicresearch. Epidemiologists andclinicians have now incorporatedgenetic aspects in their studies by

candidate gene approaches andgenome wide search.

This second "Post Genome RespiratoryEpidemiology: An interdisciplinarychallenge" seminar aims to:

1. illustrate current challenges inepidemiology in relation to genetics,genomics and post genomics inasthma and COPD by combining statesof the art regarding the field and other

views from a broader perspective

2. favour interdisciplinary approachesfor defining strategies, methods,interpretation of results - Assessmentof their potentials and limits

More information and registration: www.ga2len.netwww.ersnet.org

different types of 24-hour recallquestionnaires.

The pilot study will also comparedietary intake of polyunsaturated fattyacids (PUFA) and their concentrationin blood samples, as PUFAs play animportant role in asthma.

Once the pilot assessment of the FFQ is completed, it will be used as one of the tools of the GA2LENEpidemiology Survey.

For more information, please contactDr Vanessa Garcia-Larsen [email protected]

GA2LEN follows Olympic athletes

Update on GA2LEN Nutrition Pilot Study

ERS-GA2LEN Research Seminar

The piloting phase of the Food FrequencyQuestionnaire (FFQ) is in its final stage.

Post Genome Respiratory Epidemiology 2: An interdisciplinary challenge.

The GA2LEN Olympic study has been launched in 8 countries incollaboration with the national Olympic Committees of Norway,Denmark, Finland, Poland, Germany, England, Italy, Greece. The study could also be extended to Spain and Portugal.

OngoingGA2LENstudies ■ GA2LEN Epidemiology survey

- currently involves 22GA2LEN partners and 7collaborating centres.

■ Nutrition survey - a pilotstudy is running.

■ DARE study, exacerbation ofrespiratory allergy - theprotocol ready to use.

■ Sinusitis cohorts study.■ GA2LEN Olympic study -

prevalence of asthma andrhinitis in athletes in up to10 countries.



Education training

The fellowship scheme supports traveland living expenses of fellows workingat a foreign European laboratory for12, 6 or 3 months. Short. The mainobjectives is for the fellows to acquirenew techniques and establishcollaboration with a different Europeancountry.

1-year fellowships ■ Lidwien A.M. Smit from the

Netherlands will work on “Gene-environment interactions in Asthmaand Allergy in Adults” with INSERM,France as part of GA2LEN WP 2.9.

■ Michael Rudenko from Russia willwork on “Regulatory T-cells in the oralallergy syndrome and birch pollenimmunotherapy” at the Brighton &Sussex University Hospital.

■ Samitas Konstantinos from Greecewill focus on “Functional role oftransfer of RNA betweeninflammatory cells via exosomes” inGöteborg University as part ofGA2LEN programme.

6-month fellowships ■ Elena Kremer from Russia will study

“Immunopathologic mechanism ofOpisthorchiosis and its relation toAllergic Asthma” in Leiden, TheNetherlands.

■ Ilse Carlien Rouwendal from theNetherlands will study “Mechanismof Anaphylaxis in Mastocytosis” inCologne, Germany.

■ Hae-Hyuk Lee from Germany will bepart of GA2LEN's Imperial Collegeteam in London studying the“Influence of Various Vitamins onAllergic Disease”.

3-month fellowship ■ Sabine Zeller from Germany will

study “Expression of self-antigens inlesional skin areas of patients withatopic eczema” as a member of theKarolinska Institutet GA2LEN team.

■ Julia Wallmann from Austria will go tothe Swiss Institute of Immunology inBern to work on the “Construction ofan anti-idiotypic Fab DNA vaccine for

epitope-specific immunotherapy ofallergic asthma in a mouse model”.

■ Mohammad Fereidouni from Iran willspend 3 months at the AcademicMedical Center Amsterdam, theNetherlands.

■ Ines Pree from Austria will study the“Inhibition of IgE-facilitated allergenbinding by IgG antibodies in serafrom patients treated with newvaccines against birch pollen allergy(Bet v 1 trimer, Bet v 1 fragments)”at the Imperial College London.

■ Marina Shevchenko from Russia willjoin the Fraunhofer Institute ofToxicology and Experimental Medinein Germany. Her topics will be “Therole of lung CD11c+ dendritic cells inthe antifungal resistance of mice withexperimental allergic asthma”.

■ Anouk Katlijn Gloudemans from theNetherlands will work on “Intestinaldelivery of CTB by Geneticallymodified Lactococcus Lactis, astreatment for allergic asthma” at theUniversity Hospital Ghent, Belgium.

The GA2LEN exchangeprogramme is still open forapplications!

For more information, contact the GA2LEN Office [email protected]

EACCI-GA2LEN 2008 Fellowship awards! GA2LEN and EAACI, the European Academy ofAllergology and Clinical Immunology, will support 12 fellowships in 2008.

GA2LEN and EAACI propose4 Allergy schools in 2008for educational purposesand in order to stimulatesocial contacts betweenyoung people interested inallergy and clinicalimmunology.

The aim of the Allergy Schools isto spread current clinical andscientific knowledge in the fieldof allergy. They can have ascientific or clinical focus or amix of both. These courses arearranged in collaboration withthe EAACI National MembershipSociety of the host country.

EACCI-GA2LEN Allergy schools2008

■ 27-30 June 2008Towards free sports for allergicpeoplePorto Heli, Greece

■ organised in collaboration with theEAACI 'Allergy & Asthma inSports' Interest Group

■ 5-8 July 2008Paediatric AsthmaSan Servolo Island, Venice, Italy

■ organised in collaboration with theEAACI Asthma Section &Paediatric Section

■ 25-28 November 2008 The Epidemiology of Allergy andrespiratory diseasesLondon, UK

■ 29 August-1 September 2008Hot Topics on Allergy and AsthmaTblisi, Georgia

For more information, please visitthe EAACI or GA2LEN websites:www.eaaci.net - www.ga2len.net

or contact the GA2LEN Office,Heather Williams,[email protected]



GA2LEN attends European Parliament Lunch Debate on Future of NoEs

The 2008 work plan for theimplementation of the secondprogramme of Community action in thefield of health (2008-2013) waspublished on 29 February 2008. At thesame time the Commission announcedthe calls for proposals for projects,operating grants and conferences as wellas invitations for joint actions in thefield of public health.

More information on the Public HealthExecutive Agency website: http://ec.europa.eu/phea/

The IMI is a partnership between theEuropean Community and theEuropean Federation of PharmaceuticalIndustries and Associations (EFPIA). It has been established as a JointTechnology Initiative, a major newelement of the EU's 7th ResearchFramework Programme (2007-2013).The aim of IMI is to support the fasterdiscovery and development of bettermedicines for patients and to enhanceEurope's competitiveness by ensuringthat its biopharmaceutical sectorremains a dynamic high-technologysector. The Governing Board approvedscientific priorities and topics for2008, the core of the first call,expected to be launched by April2008.

Further information can be found at: www.imi.europa.euwww.imi-europe.org

Public Health Programme, work plan 2008

several GA2LEN publications. A list ofprojects supported by the EU in foodallergy, skin allergy and allergy andasthma is also available.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/allergy/index.htm

DG Research launched a new websiteon Allergy and Asthma researchpresenting EU research in the field aswell as related news, events andpublications. GA2LEN EuroNews video isfeatured on the homepage as well as

The lunch debate was organised onbehalf of the Core Group of NoEs byCASCADE and GA2LEN Disseminationand follows successful Core Groupawareness-raising activities includingthe 2007 Position Paper and 2007Open Forum.

The aim of the lunch debate was tofollow the commitment by the EuropeanCommission to conduct a “prospectiveanalysis” of the “NoE researchinstrument”. The Commission has nowappointed an independent “Wise Men”group of 4 individuals to undertake thisanalysis with a view to deciding whetherNoEs should be eligible for aprolongation of their EU grant. The group is currently interviewingindividual NoEs.

Following presentations by Jean-JacquesCassiman (EuroGentest), Jan-ÅkeGustafsson, and Ingemar Pongratz, an

open discussion took place betweenNoE representatives and policy makersincluding MEPs, the Director General ofDG Research, a representative ofCommissioner Potocnik’s ResearchCabinet, and the “Wise Men”rapporteur.

Key points:■ There is broad agreement that the

achievements of the best NoEsshould not be lost.

■ The broad analysis criteria have beendetermined. There will be a focus onresults.

■ Policy makers are not planning totake into account the ‘societalcontribution’ of NoEs.

■ Should NoEs be considered forfurther funding, there will be acompetitive process in which the‘best’ NoEs may receive grants toensure long-term sustainability.

New website on EU Allergy andAsthma research

IMI officiallaunchcalls in April 2008

On 3rd March 2008, the IMI GoverningBoard met for the firsttime to kick-off thework of the InnovativeMedicines Initiative.The first IMI call isexpected in April 2008.

EU News

On 26 February 2008 Torsten Zuberbier and GA2LENDissemination attended a ‘Lunch Debate on theFuture of NoEs’ hosted by Jerzy Buzek MEP in theEuropean Parliament.

A specific portal on Health researchhas been launched on the CordisFP7 website.

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/health

New EU HealthResearch portal



Who's who

How would you define yourrole as a 'Scientific Officer'?

Within the European Commission,Scientific Officers are there to helpdefine research priorities in any givenarea. They contribute to preparingwork programmes and to writing callsfor proposals.

They are involved in the whole projectcycle from the evaluation of theproposal to negotiations with thefuture coordinator. Scientific officersalso have a key role to play in definingthe activities that will be conducted bya project.

Once projects are launched, ScientificOfficers monitor the progress ofprojects and their achievements aswell as organising evaluations of theprojects. Scientific officers act as thecontact point for the coordinator of aproject.

In short, the Scientific Officer is thereto monitor planned and agreedactivities and to ensure that publicfunds are used appropriately and asagreed.

You are working in DGResearch, Unit E3, the unitin charge of Food, Health andWell-being. Do you havespecialist areas within thesefields?

All Scientific Officers in the unit workon two to three themes. Valérie mainlyfocuses on consumer science, nutritionand food safety but also works on otherareas, including allergy. While ScientificOfficers work on and have broadknowledge of several research topics,they remain generalists. As Valérie putit, “We leave the research to thescientists.”

Do you have other roleswithin the research theme?

Within these research themes,Scientific Officers are involved incommunication activities such asdeveloping brochures for the generalpublic and organising conferences.

Valérie's work also involves reviewingthe different EU funds, ensuring'complementarity' between researchinstruments used to undertakeprojects, and, looking at opportunitiesto involve non-research funds,including regional funds.

Valérie Rolland and Laura Alexandrescu bothwork in DG Research, Directorate EBiotechnologies, Agriculture, Unit 3 Food, Healthand Well-being.

Interview with Valérie Rolland,GA2LEN new Scientific Officer

Valérie Rolland has been GA2LEN's scientific officersince 1 February 2008. She replaces Ana Nieto who hasmoved to a new position in DG Research. Valérie andher colleague Laura Alexandrescu kindly agreed toanswer a few questions for GA2LEN:



Who's who

Interel, new partner for dissemination

New Collaborating CentresJoining in January 2008

Interel willcontinue GA2LENdissemination ofscientific resultsand activities andwill be involved inthe networkssustainabilitystrategy. The

company will lead WP 3.2, WP 3.4and WP 3.5 for the dissemination toscientists, health professionals,patients, the public and policy makers.

Interel is a European StrategicCommunications Consultancy,specialising in CorporateCommunications and Public AffairsEstablished in Brussels 25 year ago.The company has offices in Berlin,Brussels, Paris, Prague andWashington DC and is a member ofHasgrove Plc since 2006.

■ Marmara University, Division ofPaediatric Allergy & ImmunologyIstanbul, Turkey

■ University of Osnabrück Osnabrück, Germany

■ INFORMA Unit, Department ofEpidemiology Italian National Cancer InstituteRome, Italy

■ Scientific Center for Children’sHealth RAMSMoscow, Russia

■ Institute for ImmunologyMoscow, Russia

■ Pulmonology Research InstituteMoscow, Russia

■ StepGenGhent, Belgium

On 1 April 2008, GA2LENdissemination has moved with InterelEuropean division to new offices closerto the European institutions and asteps away from DG Research. You canfind us Rue du Luxembourg, 22-24.

More information: [email protected] Tel: + 32 2 213 13 60

Interel took over AW Communication dissemination activities on 1st February 2008.

On 14 January 2008, the GA2LEN Assembly welcomedseven new Collaborating Centres, including threeRussian research institutes.

Feriel Saouli Fredrik Lofthagen

Richard Corliss Noélie Auvergne

On 1 March 2008, Mun Limjoined as Research IntegrationCoordinator in Peter Burney'steam. Mun Lim has beeninvolved in clinical research andtrials for the last three yearswithin clinical setting. Prior tojoining Epidemiology & publichealth department, she workedas a clinical trials monitor,already at Imperial College.

New researchintegrationcoordinator


12

3rd International Symposiumon Molecular Allergology(ISMA) 18 - 20 April 2008, Salzburg, Austria

4th IPCRG World Conference 28 - 31 May 2008, Sevilla, Spain

EAACI Congress in Barcelona2008 07 - 11 June 2008, Spain

EFA 12th Annual Conference 25-29 June 2008, Warsaw, Poland

ERS Annual Congress 4-8 October 2008, Berlin, Germany

ERS-GA2LEN ResearchSeminar (WP 2.9) Post Genome Respiratory Epidemiology 2:An interdisciplinary challenge

6-8 november 2008, Cernay, France

Calendar & Events

Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma GA2LEN News N°13

Calendar22nd Immunogenetics and HistocompatibilityConference - EFI 2008

2-5 April 2008, Toulouse, France

3rd Francophone Congress ofAllergolgogy (CFA)

09 - 11 April 2008, Paris, France

GA2LEN Annual ConferenceParis 2008

10 - 12 April 2008, Paris, France

■ GA2LEN Assembly, Thursday 10April 2008

■ GA2LEN Conference Plenary, Friday11 April 2008

■ GA2LEN Public and Patients' Day,Saturday 12 April 2008

3rd International DrugHypersensitivity Meeting

11 - 13 April 2008, France

Plat inum Sponsors

Si lver Sponsors

PARIS - 12 APRIL 2008


Documents

GA2LEN News Nr13 - EAACI.org april 08.pdf · GA2LEN News Nr13 27/03/08 10:37 Page 3. 4 Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma GA2LEN News N°13 WP achievements WP 1.5 is currently