Euroconference Committee

Chair: Jan W. Gratama (The Netherlands)
Aim: to organise the Euroconference on Clinical Cell Analysis

The first Euroconference was held in Urbino, Italy in 2001.
Since 2003 the conference location has rotated throughout Europe and in most cases the Conference has been organised in collaboration with the local national cytometry society. Since 2005 the Euroconferences have been preceded by 2-day courses focusing on clinical cytometry –related themes. From 2005 to 2009 this endeavour was led by Dr. Maria Arroz. Initially the focus was on immunophenotyping in leukemia/lymphoma. Since 2008 multiple courses (6 in 2010) have been organised in parallel.
In 2009 ESCCA participated in the organisation of a “joint meeting” with ISAC and CCS in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. In 2011 the second joint meeting will be held in Dublin under the auspices of ESCCA, ICCS, ISAC and IcyS - the Irish society for cytometry.

Since 2009 the Euroconference Committee has been supported by two professional organisations; Global Conference Support for the overall logistics and NewBrooklyn for the participant registration and abstract handling.

Education & Courses Committee

Chair: Claudio Ortolani (Italy)
Aim: to provide recommendations for the training and education of technicians, scientists and academics involved in clinical diagnostic applications of flow cytometry(FCM).

Starting from similar international experiences in laboratory medicine, a training and education scheme has been established to provide qualifications for FCM operators at various skill levels (i.e. basic operator, advanced operator and academic diagnostic interpreter) and to keep the operators’ skills up-to-date through continuous training and seminars.

FCM operators who successfully participate in these educational schemes receive a specific licence certificate from ESCCA. This certificate can be used as a curricular title that has Europe-wide validity with laboratory, hospital and university institutions. Efforts are currently being made to adapt this scheme in the various European Countries.

Membership & Administration Committee

Chair: Stefano Papa (Italy)
Aim: to promote the membership of a truly European community interested in cytometry and create a network that makes the membership attractive and useful.

Although the number of members has increased significantly over the past three years, the number of clinical cytometrists working in Europe and the number and diversity of attendees at our very successful meetings means our membership could increase even more.

Certification & Accreditation Committee

Chair: Ulrich Sack (Germany)
Aim: to improve the quality and reproducibility of flow cytometry all over Europe

Standardisation in flow cytometry is a key topic to be addressed by ESCCA.
Activities towards this end were started in 2009 in St. Etienne and in 2010 in Valencia.
Some core areas in which ESCCA could make a significant contribution have been identified:

 

  1. Accreditation: European legislation, national realisation – accreditation according to 15189 and similar schemes is obligatory for clinical cytometry laboratories in most countries. How can we harmonise these efforts?
  2. External quality assessment: There are national validation programmes that involve the diagnostic comparison of results between laboratories, particularly for lymphoma, leukemia, low CD4 and other types of blood samples. How can we make the best practice available to every laboratory?
  3. Standardisation and diagnostic pathways: We plan to collect existing national guidelines for flow cytometric analysis in clinical medicine and make them accessible to everybody.
  4. New approaches: How can novel multicolour panels be established in laboratory diagnostics? How could we ensure a high quality in this field?
  5. Which points should be regulated by a Europe-wide standardisation initiative in order to make results more comparable?

Publication Committee

Chair: János Kappelmayer (Hungary)
Aim: to foster the scientific productivity of ESCCA members

Clinical cell analysis is generally carried out using flow cytometric techniques and has become a standard method for the investigation of several disorders, primarily in the areas of hematology and immunology. Articles related to flow cytometric technology are generally published in leading journals focused on these disciplines. The journal ‘Cytometry B (Clinical Cytometry)’ is now the official journal of the International Clinical Cytometry Society and is now published in affiliation with ESCCA.
The publication of ESCCA members’ original research as Original Articles, Brief Communications or Case Reports is encouraged in this journal. In recent years several ESCCA Working Groups have published their findings, in most cases in ‘Cytometry B’, ‘Leukemia and Thrombosis’ and ‘Hemostasis’.
Abstracts of the annual ESCCA meetings are peer-reviewed and, based on their scores, are also published in ‘Cytometry B’.
In addition to scientific papers, ESCCA promotes the publication of state-of-the-art textbooks on clinical cytometry. One such book is currently being edited by Claudio Ortolani (Venice) and will be published in 2011.

Website & Communication Committee

Chair: Katherina Psarra (Greece)
Aim : To create and keep the ESCCA website alive and vibrant.

The website should become a centre of information and education for flow cytometrists working in clinical or research hematology and immunology laboratories and a communication centre and discussion forum for Board members, Committee members, ESCCA members and the general public. It should provide a means for European cytometry societies to keep track of flow cytometry innovations.

Because flow cytometry is young and modern, only a modern means of communication can promote it and keep up-to-date with developments in flow cytometry through ESCCA

Industrial Partners Committee

Chair: Enrique O Connor (Spain)

Aim: to investigate ways of achieving mutually satisfactory relationships between the Society and companies operating in the field of Applied and Clinical Cytometry through their direct or indirect involvement in the Society’s activities.

Apart from their participation in the annual Conference and Course activities, the aim of these relationships is to investigate the companies’ interest in supporting activities such as clinical trials involving the use of their reagents and technologies, as well as the organisation of specific tutorial activities, outside the annual meeting time, for the Society’s members. This will entail some activities, such as standardisation, being handled in cooperation with another Committee. Finally, the work of this Committee will be reported continuously in the web newsletter that will be distributed to the members by e-mail.