President's Letter - December 2016

To the Members of the European Society for Comparative Endocrinology

Dear ESCE- members,

at the end of 2016 it appears highly appropriate to remember the 28th CECE held in Leuven, Belgium from August 21-25, 2016 as the most important event of our society. The conference, which was organized in a splendid way by our colleague Jozef Vanden Broeck and his team at the University of Leuven comprised outstanding plenaries as well as highly interesting state-of-the art lectures, oral and poster presentations. Providing a wealth of scientific data and many attractive social events, the conference has been a great success, and Jef and his team are to be congratulated once again for all their magnificent achievements.

The 28th CECE also marked the 50th anniversary of the European Society for Comparative Endocrinology (see attached opening address). On this occasion, ESCE Young Investigator Awards have been founded, which were given out during the 28th CECE for the best oral and the best poster presentations. Anne Houbrechts, Belgium and Martin Zurl, Austria received the award for the best oral presentations and Gabriella Köblös, Hungary and Marijke Gijbels, Belgium received the award for the best poster presentations. Congratulation!

These activities can only be continued by your financial support. Many thanks for that. Please pay the moderate membership fees (for bank account please check 'Membership' at the website http://www.escendo.info/) also for the next 2 years (2017/2018).

The following major decisions were taken by the ESCE Council and the General assembly during the 28th CECE. In view of his merits and constant service to the ESCE, Dan Larhammar has been elected as Honorary President of the ESCE. Encarnación Capilla, Barcelona, has been elected as new secretary/treasurer (end of 2016-2022) and will succeed Elisabeth Eppler, Zurich. Elisabeth, we are very grateful to you for all your devoted work for the ESCE, including the organization of CECE 2012 in Zurich. Joaquim Gutiérrez and Olivier Kah stepped down as ESCE councillors. Both colleagues have made great contributions to our society. Olivier Kah organized the unforgettable CECE 2014 in Rennes and Joaquim organized the wonderful ICCE 2013. So many thanks to Olivier and Joaquim for all your work and support for the ESCE.

Maurice Elphick, United Kingdom, Elisabeth Eppler, Switzerland, Florian Raible, Austria, Anna Wargelius, Norway, Jean-François Baroiller, France and Samantha Richardson, Australia were elected as new council members.

In 2017, an important event for Comparative Endocrinologists will be the 15th International Congress of Comparative Endocrinologists (ICCE), which will be held at Chateau Lake Louise from June 4-9, 2017. For more information, see the Congress’ website http://www.icce18.ca/
Re the next CECE: Julian Dow has kindly offered to organize the CECE 2018 in Glasgow from August 13 to 19, 2018. Thank you, Julian, for taking over this highly important and demanding task. Dear ESCE members: Please, mark the dates and participate in CECE 2018.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful 2017

Yours cordially

Horst

Horst-Werner Korf
ESCE-President