The Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) Annual Meeting and International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) took place at Imperial College London on the 19th and 20th of March 2018. The meeting was hosted by Professor Deborah Jarvis, the Chief Investigator of the ALEC Study.

The work package leaders presented updates on the progress of their respective parts of the study. Discussion focused on planning and delivery of results during the final year of the study.

The ISAB gave some excellent feedback and suggestions that will be incorporated into the ALEC Study as the project moves towards completion.

The ALEC study group met on Saturday 9th September at the San Matteo Hospital respiratory department in Pavia, Italy. There were representatives of many groups contributing data to the project and there were talks and discussions on the progress of the elements of the work packages. A special thanks to Dr Angelo Corsico (ECRHS PI for Pavia, and member of the ECRHS steering committee) for hosting this meeting.

Professor Shyamali Dharmage, one of the ALEC chief investigators, was invited to present ALEC at the RMIT Futures Conference 2017: Research Requires Collaboration.

The conference brought together Australian policymakers, leaders in regional and Australian business, academics and pioneering entrepreneurs for a frank debate about the prerequisites to sustain high quality research and innovation in Australia and the collaboration within H2020.

Professor Dharmage’s well-received presentation focused on how she has developed European collaborations over many decades, including with the ALEC Principal Investigator Professor Debbie Jarvis, and how ALEC was successful in getting funded by H2020. She also spoke about two unsuccessful H2020 applications that she was involved with in the past and reflected on why she thinks the ALEC was successful. Her story was acknowledged as a great case study on how Australian researchers developed effective partnerships, which then led to a successful collaboration that received H2020 funding.

The Unit of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics (SESM) at the University of Verona organized a meeting in memory of the late Professor Roberto de Marco, on September 30th, 2016.

Roberto de Marco’s outstanding scientific, professional and human achievements were remembered through dedications from colleagues who worked with him for many years in both national and international surveys. Speakers also presented Roberto de Marco’s past and still ongoing research projects.

In the academic year 1991-1992, Roberto de Marco became Professor of Medical Statistics at the University of Verona, where he founded a school renowned at both national and international level. Through scientific partnerships, he contributed to the understanding the epidemiology of respiratory diseases. His scientific excellence was recently acknowledged in the ALEC Study, which has been funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme.

The annual congress of the European Respiratory Society took place from the 3rd-7th September at the ExCel Centre in London. Research undertaken as part of the ALEC Study was presented and well received at the congress. These presentations included:

Trans-generational effect of parental and grandparental smoking on asthma risk in offspring, a poster presentation by Simone Accordini

Long-term physical activity pattern and lung function in European Adults, an oral presentation by Elaine Fuertes

The ALEC Study meeting was also held in London on the 7th-8th September. Around 40 ALEC Study researchers and collaborators attended the meeting. Professor Debbie Jarvis, the ALEC Study Chief Investigator, updated the participants on the progress of the ALEC Study and specific progress with the genetics aspect of the project (WP5). Presentations and updates on ongoing analyses were also given by:

Professor Achim Heinrich – Greenness (ALEC WP4)

Professor Thorarinn Gislason - Sleep (ALEC WP4)

Dr Vanessa Garcia Larsen – Nutrition (ALEC WP4)

Dr Francisco Gomez Real - Gender (ALEC WP4)

Dr Judith Garcia-Aymerich –Physical activity (ALEC WP4)

Professor Christer Jansen - Therapy (ALEC WP4 and WP6)

Professor Cecilie Svanes – Early life (ALEC WP2)

The Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) Annual Meeting and International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) took place at Imperial College London on the 18th and 19th of April. The meeting was hosted by Professor Deborah Jarvis, the Chief Investigator of the ALEC Study.

The meeting enabled researchers to assess the progress of the ALEC Study across all work packages and plan the upcoming work programme.

The ISAB gave some excellent feedback and suggestions that will be incorporated into the ALEC Study as the project moves forward.

A combined RHINESSA and ALEC Study Work Package 2 meeting was held on the 8th of April 2016 in Norway. The meeting was hosted by Professor Cecilie Svanes of the University of Bergen, who is the leader of the ALEC Study Work Package 2. This meeting focused on preconception and trans-generational risk factors associated with lung function.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of one of the scientific partners in the ALEC project. Roberto de Marco, Professor of Medical Statistics, was the Scientist in Charge at the University of Verona. He had worked for many years on the ECRHS project, where he had led many of the most highly cited papers that greatly contributed to the advancement of knowledge in chronic respiratory diseases. He coordinated the ISAYA and GEIRD studies, which represent two of the main contributions to the epidemiology of pulmonary diseases in Italy.

Within ALEC, Roberto would have led the research on lung function decline in asthma and on the assessment of trends in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

We will all miss and remember a critical mind, an independent researcher and a friend.

The ALEC Study meeting was held on the 26th of September 2015 at the beautiful Academiegebouw building, part of the University of Utrecht. The meeting was attended by 60 researchers, representing 30 different centres contributing data to the ALEC Study.

The meeting included presentations from the Principal Investigators of the different ALEC Study cohorts, who described their studies and contribution to ALEC. The meeting also included presentations on the progress of the ALEC Study work packages.

The ALEC Study kick-off meeting was hosted by Professor Debbie Jarvis at Imperial College London on the 28th and 29th of May 2015.

The meeting enabled many of the collaborators to meet for the first time and plan the programme of work for the various work packages.

The next meeting will be held on the 26th of September 2015 in Utrecht, immediately before the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Amsterdam.