“I would like to take the opportunity to make a statement following a highly successful Congress in Paris and the start of my official role as ERS President 2018-2019.
“Firstly, I would like to thank everyone involved in the ERS International Congress 2018, which took place on 15–19 September in Paris. With over 22,500 participants from all over the world, from all levels and disciplines, the event once again secured our position as a leader in this field. It is the commitment of our officers, members, speakers, staff and delegates that makes the Congress the respiratory event of the year – every year. Thank you all.
“I would also like to thank my predecessor Professor Mina Gaga for her great work and contribution to the society over the past 12 months. It is with great pleasure that I will pick up where she left off – with a drive and commitment to make ERS the best it can be.
“It is truly a great feeling to be the ERS President. It is a great honour to be able to be a part of and influence ERS’s developments over the coming year. I am very much looking forward to the next 12 months.
“I have many goals to achieve between now and our next Congress in Madrid, but I wanted to share two in particular: The first is to develop our position from the scientific standpoint; one thing ERS does incredibly well is to present and communicate about the latest science in the respiratory field, but one of my priorities will be to secure ERS as a responsible driver of research to improve our position in both public and private funding. Secondly, I hope to develop ERS’s global role – you can see from our Congress that our reach is global and that we have many active participants from low income countries. However, ERS’s focus remains to be on the western world and western Europe in particular. I am very keen to work towards a balance in this respect by bringing into focus the needs of low-income countries and other areas such as Asia, Africa and South America. I look forward to receiving member input and updating you all as progress is made in these areas.
“Here is to a great year ahead!”
Tobias Welte
ERS President 2018-2019