Presidential Address

Dear colleagues, Dear friends,

as another year draws to a close, it is with pleasure and pride that I address you on the achievements of EUGMS over the past 12 months; 2016 has been a year filled with great opportunities and success in all our activities and collaborations.

The annual congress in Lisbon has been a great success, not only for the relevance of the scientific contents and the numerous attendees, but also for the opportunity we had to meet many delegates from Europe as well as from all over the world!  This has been possible thanks to the exceptional work of the Academic Board and the local scientific committee, coordinated by our Academic Director, Prof. Athanase Benetos and by Prof. Joao Clara. This year, the EUGMS congress had the honour to host representatives from WHO, several international scientific societies, industries, NGOs and others more. We will continue working toward other successful EUGMS congresses in Nice, 20-22 September 2017, in Berlin, 10-12 October 2018, and in Krakow, 2019.

This year also saw many fruitful activities of the Task & Finish (T&F) groups and Special Interest Groups (SIG), with the publication of several milestone documents. A closer interaction has been established between the SIG on Pharmacology and the EMA for the realization of the geriatric medicines strategy formulated in 2011, aiming to guarantee that medicines used by geriatric patients are appropriately researched and evaluated, and to foster informed prescriptions.  We are also proud to announce the establishment of the new T&F group on Odontogeriatrics, the SIG on Diabetes, and the SIG on Gerontechnology. We are looking forward to welcoming more geriatricians in all our scientific activities and encourage applications from young geriatricians. With regard to the promotion of the young geriatricians’ training, EUGMS has continued to support candidates for the EAMA courses in 2016. We are proud to announce that in 2017 EUGMS will provide three EAMA scholarships for geriatricians from Spain, Lithuania, and Poland.

The European Geriatric Medicine Journal has continued to gain visibility and has further increased its impact factor, thank to the expert management of the Editor in Chief, Prof. Jean Pierre Michel. In order to contribute to the adoption of the EGM in Medline there is need for more qualified submissions, in particular systematic reviews, which each of you could and should contribute.

In the last years EUGMS expanded its horizons establishing connections and partnerships with several EU research projects. Currently EUGMS is a consortium partner and involved in the dissemination of the results of the MPI_Age project (www.mpiage.eu) and of the PROMISS project (www.promiss-vu.eu).

I wish to thank all national societies for their continuous support, collaboration and input through the Full Board members, their intense interaction with the Executive and Academic Boards is vital for EUGMS! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our secretariat in Vienna and Aristea, the EUGMS PCO, for their dedication and hard work. Their contribution is very important for the success and further development of our activities.

I am very excited and it is with great pleasure that I look forward to another successful year working with new friends and partners that will provide dynamic and enthusiastic opportunities for geriatrics in Europe to grow and to advance.

I wish to thank you all for your suggestions, advice and constructive criticisms, and wish you and your families a very Happy Holiday Season and a very prosperous New Year.

Yours Sincerely,

Stefania Maggi

EUGMS President