2nd Early Career Investigators' (ECI) Workshop
Basic and Clinical Research in Chronic Neutropenias
September 08-10, 2022, Palermo, Italy
Download the Agenda [pdf]
Download the application details [pdf]
City of Palermo/Workshop practical info [pdf]
Day 1 - September 8
A. Early Carreer Investigators' (ECI’s) Workshop Part I (08:30 - 13:15)
08:30 - 08.45 Registrations
08.45 - 10.00 Introductory Session
Chairs: Piero Farruggia & Helen Papadaki
- Welcome to all participants by EuNet-INNOCHRON Chair (Helen Papadaki)
- Welcome by Local Organisers, practical Information and overview of the meeting-Institution (Piero Farruggia)
- Presentation of the Young EuNet-INNOCHRON Group: Aims and Persectives (Maksim Klimiankou/Valentino Bezzerri)
- Speed dating round of ECIs
10.00 - 10.15 Coffee break
10.15 - 13.15 GROUP SESSIONS - PART I
Separate pre-defined groups of ECIs will try to work on preselected questions/queries on Chronic Neutropenias under the supervision of facilitators/tutors. Their findings and proposals will be presented and discussed on the third day of the Meeting.
10.15 - 11.45 Group Session 1: Question/Query: Clinical Diagnosis / Work-up on Chronic Neutropenias /Case reports
Main literature, most used and useful algorithms, difficult to diagnose situationsFacilitators/Tutors: Andrea Beccaria, Michail Spanoudakis, Grigoris Tsaknakis, Elena Turini
11.45 - 13.15 Group Session 2: Question/Query: Disease modelling in neutropenia research. Cell lines, primary cells, iPSC, organoids, animal models (mouse, zebrafish).
Facilitators/Tutors: Maksim Klimiankou (Cell lines, primary cells, iPSC), Natalia Alejandra Borbaran Bravo (mouse, zebrafish), Valentino Bezzerri (lab-on-chip, organ-on-chip, organoids)
13.15 - 14.30 Lunch break
14.30 - 18.00 Group 1 & 2 Workshop
(time allocated for preparation of the presentation on Day 3)
14.30 - 18.00 LLP Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry Meeting (DAY 1)
End of the Day - Networking Dinner
End of Day 1
Day 2 - September 9
B. Early Carreer Investigators' (ECI’s) Workshop Part II (14.30 - 18.30)
09.00 - 13.30 LLP Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry Meeting (DAY 2)
13.30 - 14.45 Lunch break
14.45 - 18.30 “Meet the experts” session (Chair: Piero Farruggia & Helen Papadaki)
14.45 - 15.00 “Neutropenia clinical disorders related to defective function of neutrophils”
Expert: Jan Palmblad
15.00 - 16.30 “Methods to study the basic functions of neutrophils”Cytokine expression by neutrophils, and related challenges (45 min)
Expert: Marco Cassatela
Chemotaxis, Phagocytosis, Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), NET formation (45 min)
Expert: Natalia Alejandra Borbaran Bravo
16.30 - 16.45 Coffee break
16.45 - 17.15 “Clonal hematopoiesis in patients with severe congenital neutropenia”
Expert: Siarhei Kandabarau
17.15 - 17.45 “Immune-dysregulation disorders and neutropenia”
Expert: Francesca Fioredda
17.45 - 18.30 “The role of flow cytometry in the investigation of neutropenias”
Expert: Julia Almeida
18.30 - 19.00 Key-note lecture
Introduction of the speaker by Carlo Dufour
Investigating neutropenias: From scratch to leadership.
Speaker: David Dale
End of the Day - Networking Dinner
Day 3 - September 10
C. Early Career Investigators’ (ECI’s) Workshop Part III (9:00 - 14:00)
09.00 - 10.30 Presentations by the ECIs on the topics discussed and prepared in ECI Workshop part I (Day 1 of the meeting)
Chairs: Maksim Klimiankou and Valentino Bezzerri
09.00 - 09.45 Group 1: Clinical Diagnosis / Work-up on Chronic Neutropenias /Case reports
Speaker(s): (young investigators under the supervision of the tutors of day 1)
09.45 - 10.30 Group 2: Disease modelling in neutropenia research. Cell lines, primary cells, iPSC, organoids, animal models (mouse, zebrafish).
Speaker(s): (young investigators under the supervision of the tutors of day 1)
10.30 – 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 - 12.00 Oral presentations of 4 selected abstracts
Chairs: Orna Steinberg Shemer - Anna Hovhannisyan
12.00 - 13.30 Poster walks
Facilitators: Orna Steinberg Shemer - Aleksandar Celebic - Irene Mavroudi
13.30 Closing remarks and end of the meeting
Tutors/Speakers/Chairs |
Affiliation |
City |
Country |
Julia Almeida | Cancer Research Centre (IBMCC -USAL-CSIC-), Dpt. of Medicine, UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL) CIBERONC |
Salamanca | Spain |
Andrea Beccaria | Hematology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini | Genova | Italy |
Natalia Alejandra Borbaran Bravo | University Hospital Tuebingen | Tuebingen | Germany |
Valentino Bezzerri | Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona. | Verona | Italy |
Marco Cassatela | Department of Medicine, Section of General Pathology, University of Verona | Verona | Italy |
Aleksandar Čelebić | University Clinical Center | Podgorica | Montenegro |
David Dale | Department of Medicine, University of Washington | Seattle, WA | USA |
Carlo Dufour | Hematology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Children Research Hospital | Genova | Italy |
Piero Farruggia | ARNAS Civico Di Cristina Benfratelli, Pediatric Onco-Hematology | Palermo | Italy |
Francesca Fioredda | Hematology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Children Research Hospital | Genova | Italy |
Anna Hovhannisyan | Yerevan State Medical University | Yerevan | Armenia |
Siarhei Kandabarau | University Hospital Tuebingen | Tübingen | Germany |
Maksim Klimiankou | Department of Oncology, Hematology, Immunology, and Rheumatology, University Hospital Tuebingen | Tübingen | Germany |
Irene Mavroudi | Haemopoiesis Research Lab University of Crete / Haemopoiesis Department University Hospital of Heraklion | Heraklion | Greece |
Jan Palmblad | Department of Medicine Karolinska Institutet, The Hematology Center, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge | Stockholm | Sweden |
Helen Papadaki | Haemopoiesis Research Lab University of Crete / Haemopoiesis Department University Hospital of Heraklion | Heraklion | Greece |
Michail Spanoudakis | Department of Haematology, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS foundation Trust, | Warrington | UK |
Orna Steinberg Shemer | Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel | Petah Tikva | Israel |
Grigorios Tsaknakis | Haemopoiesis Research Lab, University of Crete | Heraklion | Greece |
Elena Turini | Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Parma | Parma | Italy |
*Tutors/Speakers/Chairs in alphabetical Order
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS [expired]
Purpose of the Workshop:
The Workshop for Early Career Investigators (ECI) is organized by the COST Action CA18233 European Network for Innovative Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Neutropenias (EuNet-INNOCHRON). The young participating scientists will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge via interactive lectures from experts, familiarize themselves with protocols, patients case reports, discuss and even start collaborations with other researchers on the same field all over Europe, as well as present their own work and findings and state their concerns and questions. The meeting aims at covering the on-going research, future perspectives and potential clinical applications, and at fostering novel ideas in the field of Chronic Neutropenias.
The participants will also have the opportunity to attend the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry – Local Liaison Physicians Meeting that is taking place as a joint meeting in the same venue of Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa,Palermo.
The host of the Workshop is Dr Piero Farruggia, Pediatric Onco-Hematology, ARNAS Civico Di Cristina Benfratelli Hospital, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
A limited number of participants will be accepted with younger researchers strongly encouraged to apply. However, any researcher can apply.
Deadline for applications: July 15th, 2022
Applicants are encouraged to submit an abstract of their recent research on Neutropenia.
Application Process:
- The applicants must send their application to Dr Piero Farruggia email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Dr Helen Papadaki, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., before the deadline July 15th 2022.
- The application should consist of:
- A brief C.V.
- A motivation letter stating the relevance to their research and the value to participate in the ECI course.
- A letter of support from a senior Researcher/Clinician (preferably but not necessarily related to the EuNet-INNOCHRON project) from their home Institution.
- The applicants are also encouraged to submit an abstract of up to 500 words text. Selected abstracts will be presented as oral or poster presentations during the meeting. Submission of an abstract will be considered an advantage during the selection process of the applicants.
- The applicants will be formally notified of the outcome of their application on July 20th at the latest.
Important Notes:
- The selected applicants will be sent a formal COST invitation to the email they have provided and instructions for reimbursement rules for the expenses regarding the whole travel.
- The selected participants will be reimbursed from the COST Action EuNet-INNOCHRON for travel costs and will get a fixed amount of daily allowance (for their accommodation, meals and any public local transport).
- To attend this in-person meeting, participants are subject to the regulations of the Italian National Health Authorities regarding the pandemic that are being constantly revised.
- Participants are advised to include cancellation insurance when making arrangement for travel and accommodation.
Download the Agenda [pdf]
Download the application details [pdf]
City of Palermo/Workshop practical info [pdf]