Celebrating the hybrid experience at the 13th International Immunology Summit 2022

Our 13th annual International Immunology Summit recently took place in Prague, where we welcomed healthcare professionals from around the world, both in person and virtually, over a three-day period. The delegates took part in inspiring learning experiences and attended key discussions that centred around important topics within the care community, looking at how healthcare professionals can truly transform the lives of patients living with immunological diseases.

Executive Vice President, Emmanuel Caeymaex, opened the Summit by welcoming delegates, and reinforcing UCB’s commitment to Immunology. Our co-chairs Dr William Tillett (Consultant Rheumatologist at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and senior lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the University of Bath, UK) & Dr Andreas Pinter (Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) then continued the Summit with an inspiring introduction, before hosting an interactive panel discussion between different members of the multidisciplinary team, on transforming patient outcomes through collaboration. This team included Maarten de Wit (Chair of the EULAR Study Group for Collaborative Research, and a patient with psoriatic arthritis), Anusha Patel (Embedded Pharmacist for NHS England, a high-cost drugs pharmacist and regional homecare lead pharmacist for NHS Trusts in the East Midlands, UK) and nurse Louise Moore (Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Adjunct Lecturer/Assistant Professor at UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems based at Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services, Harold's Cross, Dublin).

Day two proved just as engaging with a provocative presentation from Laura Coates (Associate Professor and an NIHR Clinician Scientist at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford, UK) and Jo Lambert (Senior Full Professor in Dermatology and Venerology and Academic Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium) discussing whether current practices and standards of care in SpA & PsO are enough. Dr Lambert was then joined by Dr Fabian Proft (Rheumatologist and Senior Researcher at the Charité University Hospital Berlin, Germany) as they looked at how we can deliver better patient care in SpA & PsO. The afternoon provided delegates with a more personalised learning journey, featuring ten mixed workshop and masterclass sessions themed around raising the standard of care in patients with IMIDs.

Our final day focused on the future of clinical practice and patient care with Stefano Piaserico (Associate Professor at the University of Padua, Italy and Head of the Regional Centre for Psoriasis) and Ole Ahlehoff (Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet) delivering the opening session on recognising and treating comorbidities in IMIDs. This was followed by Leonard Witkamp (former Dermatologist and Director of KSYOS TeleMedical Centre) and Aurélie Najm (Clinical Senior Research Fellow in Immunology at the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK) hosting an inspiring discussion on how we will integrate technologies, including wearables and apps into healthcare, and digital hospitals of the future.

Our 13th International Immunology Summit concluded successfully with positive reviews! One delegate who attended in person described the Summit as an “excellent, high quality learning opportunity”, 100% of delegates said they were extremely motivated/motivated, to implement a change in their working practice because of the meeting content, 90% of virtual delegates would recommend the International Immunology Summit to their colleagues.

Relive the action by watching our highlights video: