Home

The goals of this subcommittee are:​

• To promote EMEUNET. Over the years, we have expanded our activities, involving other (young) organisations and working on projects with other EMEUNET subcommittees (Newsletter, Country Liaison and Social Media subcommittees). ​
• To increase EMEUNET visibility among young rheumatologists and researchers within the Rheumatology society. This task is tackled mainly by organising networking events during ACR and EULAR annual meetings and disseminating information on EMEUNET at our booth at the EULAR congress. Last year EMEUNET organised a very appreciated networking event in Philadelphia during the ACR Convergence 2022 and, along with EULAR, hosted around 80 members during the EULAR family dinner in Copenhagen. Great news will be coming soon about EULAR 2023 in Milan.
• To interact and collaborate with PARE and Young PARE.​ A better understanding of the views and needs of (young) people living with musculoskeletal and rheumatic disease is essential.

ACTIVITIES

The V&GA subcommittee is highly committed to promoting and maintaining the sense of community that features EULAR. The live EMEUNET networking events are unmissable appointments for the young rheumatologists to interact, establish new collaborations and maintain fruitful interaction without borders. However, the EMEUNET V&GA subcommittee has put considerable effort into creating occasions of interaction all year round, thanks to the internet.

EMEUNET members met using digital platforms during the last few years in e-networking meetings and virtual reality events. Since 2021 V&GA subcommittee launched a series of scientific get-togethers to foster scientific interaction and collaboration among the sub-committee members. ​In 2022, the second EMEUNET scientific event took place online, featuring a talk from Prof. Daniel Aletaha, EULAR president-elect and co-founder of EMEUNET in 2009, who discussed with the attending members the future role of young rheumatologists within EULAR, the transition from EMEUNET to EULAR and the added value of being an active EMEUNET member for his professional growth. Two EMEUNET members had the opportunity to share their ongoing research projects and receive feedback and comments from other colleagues. Finally, Dr Manouk De Hoodge, co-chair of the young ASAS, Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS), shared her experience within ASAS and informed us about yASAS activities and structures. This talk is of particular relevance to EMEUNET V&GA as one of the tasks of the subcommittee is to proactively engage in collaboration with the young organisation with an interest in rheumatology, such as the Young Nephrologists’ Platform (YNP), the Paediatric Rheumatology European Society Emerging Rheumatologists and Researchers (PReS EMERGE), the ECTS Academy, young PANLAR and APLAR and the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Junior Members (EAACI JM).​

In this regard, we are ready to announce the first of a series of webinars organised in collaboration with the young European Federation of Immunological Societies (yEFIS) titled RNA sequencing in rheumatology and immunology: from tissue to single cells, which will take place online on the 28th of March 2023 and will feature Dr Felice Rivellese from London and Dr Elena Merino from Dublin as speakers.

LEADER: Daniele Mauro

MEMBERS

Our objectives are:

1. To maintain an active CL network. Our Sub-Committee establishes fluid communication with CLs to support them on their tasks and receiving their feedback and try to put their proposals into practice. For this purpose, we send out periodic reminders and materials, organize regular Teleconferences, and are always available to give any required assistance.

2. To promote and disseminate EULAR | EMEUNET and its initiatives. By supporting our CLs we can reach young rheumatologists, researchers and allied professionals in every country and attract to become members and to participate in the activities we develop. Our CLs disseminate the information we send them among their colleagues in their country. They also develop national activities meant to increase the visibility and adherence to EMEUNET and report back on so we can boost their visibility through our website and Social Media channels. For assistance in this task, we produce and maintain a repository of materials that are constantly updated and with their help, we obtain translations to further increase the possibilities of reaching more potential new members.

3. To Increase the visibility of CLs and their actions. We give more visibility to the work of our CLs by posting them on our website, social media channels and our annual newsletter, where we also highlight their promotional activities and those who had an outstanding performance.

ACTIVITIES

The Country Liaison Meeting at EULAR Congress

Since 2014, we organize every year the Country Liaison meeting during EULAR Congress. In 2022, we could finally go back to F2F meeting in Copenhagen after some years of online meetings. This a good opportunity for CLs to meet each other, share their work, discuss the difficulties they found for performing their task and propose new ideas to be held during the next year. We are looking forward to Copenhagen, hoping the meeting will be face-2-face again!

2021 Country Liaison Meeting

2022 Country Liaison Meeting

LEADER: Xabier Michelena Vegas

MEMBERS

Every year, up to 11 newsletters are released, bringing the freshest news to the EMEUNET, covering all EMEUNET activities (e.g. introducing all Sub-Committee Members, Country Liaisons, and by presenting the various activities of the EMEUNET Sub-Committes). EMEUNEWS also covers major rheumatology meetings (ACR and EULAR), with the selections of Do Not Miss abstracts and the Highlights of abstracts and activities. The theme of the Special issue varies on an annual basis. In collaboration with EULAR, EMEUNET has established a Press Review newsletter. These issues are published every 4 months and provide an overview of the recently published papers in the area of rheumatology. All newsletters also provide information on upcoming educational events, courses, grant opportunities and other new initiatives.

In the NL Sub-Committee, we have recently moved our newsletter to a more engaging and user-friendly WordPress platform. This change allows us to create a more dynamic and interactive experience for our readers, who can now easily navigate through our content, view images and videos, and participate in discussions. Besides, it provides us with greater flexibility to customize the design and layout of our newsletter, as well as to incorporate social media links and other interactive features. We believe that this change will help us to better engage with our audience, increase participation, and ultimately, improve knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Over the years, the newsletters have become an important activity of EMEUNET. They are an essential part of the “voice” of EMEUNET, promoting EMEUNET visibility and engaging the community. Together, we can continue to build a dynamic and supportive network of young rheumatologists and researchers that will make a meaningful impact on the field of rheumatology for years to come.

ACTIVITIES

EMEUNEWS ISSUES
EMEUNET Newsletters are published monthly to provide the overview of EMEUNET activities, to highlight the most emerging publications in the sphere of rheumatology and to provide the coverage of the biggest events (EULAR and ACR annual Congresses). The Newsletters are distributed by email mass-mailing to all EMEUNET registered members and also advertised on EMEUNET Social Media. Every Sub-Committee member is responsible for coordinating at least 1 Newsletter per year. Currently, editorials of the Newsletter are available to everyone, access to full text requires registration.

FUTURE OF EMEUNEWS
EMEUNET strives to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among peers. As part of this effort, we have recently moved our newsletter from a traditional power point format to a more engaging and user-friendly WordPress platform. As the new platform provides us with enhanced capabilities to communicate and engage with our audience, we are excited to explore the possibilities of this new format and to continue building upon the success of our past newsletters. We hope that the new platform will help us to further strengthen the sense of community among young rheumatologists and to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration across borders. We invite our readers to join us on this journey and to provide us with feedback and suggestions to make our newsletter an even more valuable resource for the EMEUNET community.

LEADER: Diego Benavent

MEMBERS

The core of all EMEUNET-related information can be found on our website, http://www.emeunet.eular.org. The site has been online since June 2012, and has been expanding ever since. On our homepage, you can find announcements of interesting conferences, useful courses and exchange programmes, updates with information about registrations to conferences and bursaries, links to educational content and job offers.

However, the website is more than just an information channel. We prepare special educational content, such as “What is New” section according to disease and “Imaging quizzes” showing fascinating musculoskeletal images and associated diagnoses. Moreover, as a logged-in member, you are granted full access to the whole content of the website, including all Newsletters, contacts to EULAR Centers of Excellence, and the database of EMEUNET members. It is especially designed for the needs of young rheumatologists and researchers in the field of rheumatology, being the only webpage to collect and gather such a broad range of information about rheumatology worldwide!​

ACTIVITIES

EMAILS
As an EMEUNET member, you will receive regular e-mail updates (job offers, courses, and many more) and our EMEUNET Newsletters (Press Review, EULAR and ACR Do Not Miss and Highlights, among others). You will never miss an opportunity!​ Email us at emeunet@eular.ch

FACEBOOK, TWITTER​ and INSTAGRAM
In 2014, we launched our EMEUNET Facebook and Twitter platforms to maximize contact with both members and non-members, providing quick up-to-date information to the rheumatology community. We recently also launched our EMEUNET Instagram account. Our main goals are promoting EMEUNET visibility and its goals, through reaching out to all rheumatologists and researchers in rheumatology across the world. Facebook and Twitter are readily accessible and very intuitive platforms, where you can follow all ongoing activities, deadlines, and projects while they are actively taking place!​

LINKEDIN
In October 2016, we also launched our profile on LinkedIn, to reach a broader audience, especially those who are not engaged in Twitter or Facebook. ​

YOUTUBE – EMEUNET TUBE
In May 2015, we started the YouTube channel EMEUNET TUBE, wherein you can watch interviews with top-class rheumatologists, as well as short video introductions about our different Sub-Committees, to further explore EMEUNET. We are extending our video section constantly, hosting video interviews about research topics and top papers in the field and newsletter editorials. Also, if you are not sure whether you are interested in our popular Mentor-Mentee meetings, you can find video reports about these events there.​

PODCAST
In February 2020, in collaboration with the Education Sub-Committee, we launched the EMEUNET Podcast channel, where you can listen to recently published scientific news and interviews with high-level rheumatologists. We are constantly updating and enriching our audio section, to allow all colleagues to stay updated even in a simple and functional way. You can find us on major podcast platforms, including Spotify!

To keep it simple….​
Our ultimate goal is to set the grounds for the key concept of EMEUNET: to keep every young rheumatologist in the world informed and involved in educational, clinical, and research activities. ​
If you have any information you think might be interesting for us to publish, please do not hesitate to contact us via any of our Social Media platforms or by email (emeunet@eular.ch).​
We are always happy to receive any comments/suggestions you may have!​

Co-LEADERS: Lianne Kearsley-Fleet and Mrinalini Dey

MEMBERS

The Peer Mentoring Sub-Committee aims to provide young rheumatologists and researchers with a wide range of mentoring options to interact with mentors and leading clinicians/ researchers in the field of rheumatology. It also encourages the exchange of ideas and networking between peers providing an opportunity to get in touch with rheumatologists and researchers with similar research interests.

Ongoing projects of the Peer Mentoring Sub-Committee :

1) Peer Review Mentoring Program for Rheumatology Journals: To train EMEUNET members as reviewers for scientific journals in rheumatology under the supervision of senior reviewers. This program is organised in collaboration with the editorial offices of Ann Rheum Dis and RMD Open.
2) Mentor–Mentee meetings at international conferences (ACR and EULAR): Informal meetings between EMEUNET members and experts in the field of rheumatology to discuss career plans, research options, training etc. under an informal atmosphere.
3) Research institute database: To promote research collaborations between EMEUNET members and research institutes in Europe. Along with the official list of the EULAR Centres of Excellence, and EULAR Centres of Imaging we provide information on a list of various high quality centres around Europe that are available to enable exchange of research projects and also to enhance the mobility and international experience of young rheumatologists and researchers.
4) Post-Doc Mentoring Program: A pioneer program for early career researchers aimed at providing mentoring to cover a number of aspects of the research and career development: how to lead projects, build networks, evolve into a senior researcher and general career advice.

ACTIVITIES

THE MENTOR-MENTEE MEETINGS AT EULAR 2022 

Prof Peter Lamprecht

Prof Laura Coates

THE MENTOR-MENTEE MEETINGS AT ACR 2022

Dr Peter Grayson

Prof Nicola Dalbeth

EMEUNET Peer Review Mentoring Program for Rheumatology Journals

Since its first edition in 2012, this innovative program has received enormous attention from the whole EMEUNET community and beyond, and it has been continuously expanding with 29 mentors and more than 100 EMEUNET members having participated. Since 2017, the program involves the two EULAR/BMJ rheumatology journals (Ann Rheum Dis and RMD Open). This brought new top-level mentors and a broader selection of research topics, as well as a higher number of available places. The 7th edition has been launched in 2021.

Do not miss the opportunity to engage in scientific state-of-the-art discussions with leading experts and receive invaluable training in peer review. Stay tuned to our social media platforms and newsletters and apply to upcoming editions! For any questions related to this program, please contact emeunet.peer.review@gmail.com

EMEUNET PostDoc Mentoring Program

A recent survey conducted among EMEUNET members revealed that there is a need for mentoring during the early career stages (see also the recent article on this). As a result, in 2018, the EMEUNET Peer Mentoring Sub-Committee launched the EMEUNET PostDoc Mentoring Program. This program is a pioneering initiative in Europe. The fourth edition started in 2021. 

Are you a Post-Doc researcher in rheumatology and need a mentor to support your academic growth? Take advantage of this unique program and apply for coming editions! For any questions related to this program, please contact mentoring.emeunet@gmail.com

LEADER:Silvia Piantoni

MEMBERS

When EMEUNET started its activities, a large online survey of over 700 participants was used to assess the educational needs of young rheumatologists and researchers.

The Education Sub-committee was formed to meet these needs, by providing information about existing educational programs and funding opportunities (by EULAR and other organizations), as well as developing new educational opportunities.

Over the past years, EMEUNET has expanded and is now engaged in several educational activities, in conjunction with EULAR’s Committees. 

Having a large group of young rheumatologist and researchers (over 2,000 members), we are able to provide valuable information (via the means of online surveys and direct contacts with members in different countries), in order to tailor the educational content from EULAR to the Needs of young rheumatologists and researchers.

ACTIVITIES

WIN: We have posted more than 80 unique contributions from more than 12 enthusiastic emeunet members. We use now a new format that is helping us engage with more people around the globe.

Podcast: The official WIN podcast is about to be  released. This is a new format that will include an interview with authors from one of the WIN selected articles. Our community will be able to participate as we will give them the opportunity to share their questions with us (and thus the invited author).

Ambassador program @ EULAR Congress: We are delighted to announce that we are working close with EULAR in the planning of the ambassador program. More information will be available soon.

Eular task forces: We launched 3 calls where our members were able to apply to participate in different taskforces. We received more than 80 applications! We are proud to announce that 6 lucky and deserving EMEUNET members will represent our community in the development of these important taskforces.

Leader: Luis Fernando Perez

MEMBERS