February 2011
After 10 years as Secretary of EIC, the time has come for me to relinquish my post to another. During the time of my Secretaryship, I feel that the stability and independence of the EIC has been established, and we have progressed forward with a number of initiatives, which include the development of the EIC Website, and the Annual EIC Newsletter. Furthermore, we have established a vast number of enthusiastic members who attend the Annual Meeting each year to show their exciting, ground-breaking research. Each of these Meetings has been held in a convivial and non-confrontational manner such that the Club is a highly reputable organisation.
At the last EIC Annual Meeting in Holland, Hal Drakesmith from Oxford, UK, volunteered to become the EIC Secretary. No doubt the support that I have received over the last years will now extend to him such that he can further develop EIC.
As a parting gift to EIC, I am hoping that the history of the EIC will be finished by the next Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium in September. This History will trace the topics studied over the past 30 years, their rise and decline, as well as showing photos of members and venues of each Meeting.
Roberta J Ward
From the new Secretary
First I am sure you will wish to join me in paying tribute to Bobbie Ward, the outgoing secretary. The work Bobbie has done over a decade of service to the iron research community is invaluable. Her enthusiasm and her ability to work with people and make things happen have been central to the success and growth of the European Iron Club. The EIC in turn, through its annual meetings that foster exchange of information and the development of collaborations, has surely facilitated the flourishing of iron metabolism research that we have all been witness to.
I am very excited to take over as EIC secretary at a time when iron research is thriving so well. It is my aim to change as little as possible and to keep the good things that the EIC has provided – relatively inexpensive, informal and happy meetings that nevertheless maintain the highest scientific quality.
Both the ‘convivial’ and the ‘groundbreaking’, as Bobbie aptly puts them, were equally in evidence at the EIC Annual Meeting in Nijmegen in September 2010. The science was interesting and stimulating, as were the social occasions, and we pass our thanks to the organizers, toasting especially the Chairwoman Prof. Dorine Swinkels. There is a report of the meeting below.
Hal Drakesmith
Report from the EIC Meeting in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, September 2010
In September 2010 the annual meeting of the European Iron Club took place at the Medical Centre, Radboud University, in Nijmegen, considered to be the oldest town the Netherlands, being over two thousand years old. The city’s venerable and eventful history encompasses Roman beginnings (Nijmegen derives from “Noviomagus” given by the Roman Emperor Trajan), the hosting of Charlemagne’s court, and membership of the Hanseatic League. The conference was arranged primarily by Prof. Dorine Swinkels and her organizing committee. A tapas buffet welcomed delegates on the afternoon of Wednesday September 15th, before the scientific sessions began on Thursday 15th, with an introduction from Dorine Swinkels. The first plenary Lecture was given by Günter Weiss (Innsbruck, Austria), who gave a tour de force of molecular mechanisms underlying the anemia of chronic disease. Following shorter talks examined the effects of various infections or infectious stimuli on hepcidin expression, and the role of HFE in immune / iron metabolism interactions. A final very interesting talk in this session was on the effect of changes in iron on the human response to lipopolysaccharide (Lucas Van Eijk, Nijmegen). After beverages, session 2 began with a great talk by Michael Zimmerman (Zurich, Switzerland) on the hugely important topic of iron fortification of the diet in the tropics, and the next talks looked at factors that regulate dietary iron absorption. Lunch break led into session 3, on cellular and mitochondrial iron metabolism, which lasted for the rest of the day. Ioav Cabantchik (Jerusalem, Israel) gave a plenary lecture treating disorders of iron misdistribution that was well received. A series of shorter talks followed exploring various aspects of intracellular iron transport and metabolism. The session culminated however with a fascinating seminar by Esther Meyron-Holtz (Haifa, Israel) on the regulation of iron transport across the blood-testis barrier.
We then adjourned the formal scientific proceedings for the day, and delegates were taken, first by bus and then on foot, for guided tours around Nijemegen – seeing the various sights including the bridge pictured above (site of important events in 1944), and the remains of the old imperial palace. The last stop was a lovely tavern in which beer and food were both provided and consumed.
|
