The results of the latest round of ERS Leadership Elections were announced today during the 2018 General Assembly meeting, which was attended by ERS members and senior leaders at the ERS International Congress, Paris.
The General Assembly is the body responsible for adapting the statutes of the Society, deciding the annual membership fees, putting forward proposals to the Executive Committee, and reviewing and approving the accounts.
Following the meeting, it is with great pleasure that we announce the incoming ERS Vice President for 2018 – 2019 is Professor Anita Simonds, who will successively become ERS President Elect and then ERS President – making her a key and influential figure within our Society.
Further key appointments include Professor Joanna Chorostowska-Wynimko, who has been appointed as incoming Secretary General Elect; Professor Thomas Geiser, who will take the role of Treasurer Elect; and Professor Christopher Brightling, who has been appointed as the incoming Science Council Chair Elect.
We would like to thank all voting members of ERS as well as all competing candidates for their participation in this important election.
Professor Tobias Welte, the incoming ERS President for 2018 – 2019, was also formally appointed at the meeting. During his hand-over speech, Prof. Welte emphasised his commitment to raising the profile of respiratory medicine and science to achieve the Society’s goals of promoting lung health, in order to alleviate suffering from disease and to drive standards for respiratory medicine globally.
Key ERS leaders also reported on the activities of the Society over the last twelve months in key areas of science, education and advocacy, and ERS members who attended the meeting voted upon a number of changes to the ERS by-laws and constitution.
Notable amendments include the vote in favour of the formation of a new ERS Assembly. The group will be formed through the division of Assembly 1, which will now focus upon general pneumology, while the new Assembly 14 will be dedicated to clinical techniques, imaging and endoscopy.
Further details concerning the elections for the new Assembly group Head, Secretary and Early Career representative will be communicated to all members in due course.