ESPN General Assembly Meeting, Shanghai, August 31 2013, 12:30-14:00
Minutes
1) ESPN 2013 expanded membership and European communication network (Rosanna
Coppo)
As a result of a campaign to increase communication network in Europe and the
collaboration with IPNA, the amount of paid members has substantially increased compared
to 2012: by August 2013 there are 215 members (including 69 ESPN only and 146 combined
ESPN + IPNA). Besides European countries, Arabic and North African countries, Canada and
USA are represented.
ESPN website is updated and contains a membership area opened to members only.
ESPN mailing list 2013 contains 902 email addresses of physicians and researchers involved in
pediatric nephrology care to interact with the ESPN activities.
2) Financial report (Dieter Haffner)
All documents for ESPN as a charity organization are finalized. The information about ESPN as
a charity organization will be placed at the ESPN website.
Account stand 31.12.2011: 85235.48 EUR
Account stand 31.12.2012: 112807.82 EUR
ESPN membership fees 2013: 8.902 EUR
For the ESPN congress in Porto: the council agrees to spend for travel grants + awards 2 x 5000
EUR.
3) Scientific policy: launch of the ESPN WG (Rosanna Coppo)
In 2013 ESPN council launched an initiative to create ESPN working groups (WGs) devoted to
specific areas of Pediatric Nephrology. The aim of the WGs is to facilitate a true European
network, Pediatric Nephrology activity visibility and collaboration with IPNA and ERA-EDTA.
Each WG is leaded by a scientific board consisting of 5 members (including a chair person
and a young member) and 3 liaison persons (liaison ESPN Council, liaison ESPN Registry, liaison
ERA-EDTA) that are elected for 3 years. Each position can be re-elected for max 6 years.
Seven WGs has been established:
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Transplantation: Chair: B. Tonshoff, board members: P. Cochat, L. Dello Strologo, A.
Melk, O. Soylemezoglu, liaison ESPN registry: K. Van Stralen, Liaison council: A. Bjerre,
Liaison ERA-EDTA: L. Peruzzi.
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Dialysis: Chair A. Edefonti Chair, board members: S. Bakkaloglu, C. Stefanidis, M.
Fiscbach, E. Verrina; liaison ESPN registry: K. Van Stralen, liaison council: J. Vande
Walle, liaison ERA-EDTA: R. Shroff
CKD-MBD: Chair: D. Haffner, board: S. Bakkaloglu, MA. Ramero, G. Reusz, R. Shroff,
liaison ESPN registry: K. Van Stralen, Liaison council: D. Haffner, Liaison ERA-EDTA: J.
Bacchetta
CAKUT: Chair: S. Weber, board: G. Montini, K. Ismaili, A. Peco-Antic, A. Raes, liaison
council: F.Yalcinkaya. There is no corresponding WG in ERA-EDTA.
Inherited Kidney Disorders: Chair: M. Konrad, board: C. Bergman, D. Bockenhauer,
E.Levtchenko, S.Mir, liaison ESPN registry: K. Van Stralen, liaison council: S. Weber,
liaison ERA-EDTA: F. Emma
Nephrotic syndrome: Chair: G. Deschenes, board: S.Mir, L.Peruzzi, C.Pecoraro,
J.Vande Walle, liaison council: D.Bockenhauer, liaison ERA-EDTA: D. Deschenes.
Immune related disorders: Chair: A. Amore, board: E.Baskin, J-C. Davin, C.Pecoraro,
R.Topaloglu, liaison council: R. Coppo, liaison ERA-EDTA: A. Amore
The programs of the WG were discussed by the ESPN council and will be posted at the ESPN
website. ESPN WG are open for new members. Calls for board positions will be posted when
positions are available.
4) Personnel policy (Rosanna Coppo)

AGM re-elected by vote Elena Levtchenko as ESPN Assistant Secretary and
Dieter Haffner as ESPN Treasurer for one year.
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Representation in IPNA council: new elected members 2013; Dieter Haffner,
Detlef Bockenhauer , Anna Bjerre, Rezan Topologlu. Francesco Emma and
George Reuz will stay (2011-2017). RC remains an ex officio member as ESPN
Secretary General.
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ESPN Registry: Franz Schaeffer – Registry Chair
Staff:
Karlijn van Stralen (0.8 fte) – Registry Coordinator
Marjolein Bonthuis (1.0 fte) – PhD student, since April 2010
Nick Chesnaye (1.0 fte) – PhD student
Sean Senecal (1.0 fte) – data manager
All staff working in the Department‟s research line „Evaluation of Health Care
and Epidemiology‟ AMC Amsterdam, headed by Kitty Jager.

Honorary members 2013: Christer Holmberg (Finland), Aysin Bakkaloglu
(Turkey). The awards will be presented to them during the ESPN congress in
Porto because of the temporary sickness of Aysin Bakkaloglu.
5) Report from the ESPN registry ( Franz Schaeffer)
ESPN/ERA-EDTA registry is funded by ERA-EDTA and ESPN till March 2016. For 2013
additional funding has been provided by the European Agency for Health and
Consumers (EAHC): €150,000
Annual report of the registry is finalized. 34 country reports have been published
showing benchmarking features.
Registry fellowships: United Kingdom: Leah Krischock, France: Jerome Harambat,
Germany : Elke Wühl, Italy: Danilo Lofaro, Marco Bussutti, The Netherlands: Huib de
Jong, Karlijn Meijs, Maike v Huis, Belgium : Djalila Mehkali.
The number of publications based on the Registry data and the Impact factor are
increasing steadily (2013: 6 published papers, IF 27). Four papers are currently under
revision. At this moment there are 9 ongoing projects.
6) New members
There are 62 new members (17 ESPN only and 35 ESPN + IPNA).
All new members are approved.
7) Educational policy (Rosanna Coppo)
 CME using the website:
Slides of 4 CME symposia held during ERA-EDTA congress in Istanbul 2013 are posted on the
ESPN website (Urinary tract infections in children and adults; Acute renal failure in the
pediatric age group: treatment and outcome; Diagnosis and management of
osteodystrophy in children with CKD; ERA-EDTA/ESPN Registry). Master Classes from ESPN
congress in Porto 2014 will be posted as well.
NDT proposes an educational blog on pediatric nephrology on ERA-EDTA/ESPN website. This
initiative is approved by ESPN council.
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ESPN-IPNA course Moscow Oct 2013 is organized by Dr. L. Prikhodina , October 2224, 2013 and financially supported by IPNA and ESPN.
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Educational grants accepted by the council
Dr Ifeoma Anochie, from Nigeria is supported to spend a 3-4 months fellowship in
Manchester (Dr.Malcolm Lewis). She is registered GMC and can have hands-on-experience.
She likes to be trained in PD and HD for establishing dialysis program in Nigeria.
 ESPN/IPNA Junior Classes (Pierre Cochat)
IPNA in collaboration with regional societies of Pediatric Nephrology launces a new project of
Junior Classes. IPNA/ESPN Junior Classes start from 2014 in Porto. The official program has
been discussed at IPNA council in Shanghai. The duration of the program will be 3 years, in
Europe: 2 days linked to ESPN congress in Porto, 2 days linked to ESPN congress in Brussels and
3 days in 2016 (location will be specified later). Persons who attended 7 days teaching and
passes an exam will obtain IPNA/ESPN diploma. The aim of the Junior Classes is to attract
juniors to the society and to harmonize teaching around the world.
8) ESPN Networking policy (Rosanna Coppo)
ESPN will join the Young Nephrology Platform (YNP) just launched by the ERA-EDTA, linking
the two websites and sharing common activities addressed to < 40 y.o. nephrologists
The activities of this platform include:
- Survey about need and hopes
Interview
- Information exchange among young people working in the same area.
Coordinator Milkos Molnar email: molnar@medformol.hu
9) Future ESPN meetings

ESPN meeting 2014 (Afonso Caldas, congress president; Rizard Grenda, chair of
the scientific committee)
The next ESPN meeting will take place in Porto in September 18-20 2014. The scientific
committee and the local organizing committee are established. The provisional
program of the congress is discussed during the ESPN council meeting in Shanghai
and consists of:
- IPNA – ESPN Junior Class (one full-day, September 17)
- Joint meeting with the European Working Group on Psychosocial Aspects of
Children with Chronic Renal Failure (EWOPA) (September 18-19)
- ESPN master classes (ESPN Working Groups)
- ESPN – ERA/EDTA registries
- State of the art lectures (plenary sessions)
- Symposiums (Debates / Case reports; Best relevant abstract)
- Oral Communications and Poster viewing sessions
- Symposium “What‟s hot – what‟s new?” (September 20)
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ESPN 2015 will take places in Brussels (Johan Vande Walle, congress president,
Elena Levtchenko, chair scientific committee). The first meeting of the scientific
committee is taken place in Shanghai.
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Bid for 2017 Congress will take place in Porto.
One full symposium dedicated to ESPN WGs will take place during the 51th ERA-EDTA
congress in Amsterdam May 31-June 3, 2014).
Rosanna Coppo
ESPN Secretary General
Elena Levtchenko
ESPN Assistant Secretary