key: cord-0879222-jvr1gevf
authors: Ubags, Niki; Patout, Maxime; Dumas, Orianne; Cruz, Joana
title: Statement from the Early Career Member Committee (ECMC) Chair and Co-chair and introduction of the new ECMC members
date: 2021-03-03
journal: Breathe (Sheff)
DOI: 10.1183/20734735.0281-2020
sha: c29c7a294c962cc939acf71b10057a95dfd843cb
doc_id: 879222
cord_uid: jvr1gevf

Statement from the Chair and Co-chair of the ERS Early Career Member Committee (ECMC) and introduction to the new members of this committee https://bit.ly/3ltuWX9

The Early Career Member Committee (ECMC) of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) consists of a group of 14 ERS members below 40 years of age, who represent the interests of the Early Career Members (ECMs) from the assemblies. Each ECM representative has specific tasks within the ECMC, which have been presented in a previous issue of Breathe [1] . In 2020, Niki Ubags and Maxime Patout took up the position of Chair and Co-chair of the ECMC and two ECMs joined the Committee and became the ECM representatives for Assemblies 6 and 9. This article provides a statement from the ECMC Chair and Co-chair and introduces the two new members of the ECMC.

In the spring of 2020, Niki Ubags (ECM representative of Assembly 3) was elected as Chair of the ECMC. As the professional and personal situations of ECMs can change, it was decided to appoint a Co-chair who is available to take over the tasks of the Chair where needed and serves as a sounding board for the Chair in all ECMC related matters. Maxime Patout (ECM representative of Assembly 2) was concurrently appointed as Co-chair of the ECMC. A brief description of who we are was published last year [2] .

The previous committees have worked hard to ensure that the ECMC representatives are now involved in all committees and working groups across the ERS. This development guarantees that the voice and needs of the ECMs are heard in these groups. We are committed to continue this upward trend and to extend the involvement of and activities for ECMs in the coming years. 2020 has posed tremendous challenges for all respiratory professionals. To better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the training and work of our ECMs, a survey was prepared and distributed. We collected more than 500 responses from across Europe and beyond, from clinicians to scientists to allied healthcare professionals. Moreover, we collaborated with the Early Career Professionals of the Chinese Thoracic Society to prepare short presentations on COVID-19 related topics. Over the next 2 years, we will work towards providing additional resources for personal and career development for our members. Moreover, we will continue to organise dedicated Congress sessions for ECMs and further collaborations with early career professional committees of related societies.

The input of our members is crucial to make sure we can tailor these activities to the needs of the ECMs at different stages in their training and career. Moreover, we aim to involve our members in tasks such as chairing sessions at the ERS International Congress and plan to provide additional resources for those that are taking on this task for the first time. All ECMC members can be approached with questions and ideas. Their details can be found in the ERS members' directory. If you want to be more involved in ERS activities, such as article writing or session chairing, please sign up to the competence list via MyERS and indicate your areas of expertise and interests, or contact one of the ECMC members at the Congress or via e-mail.

Orianne Dumas is the new ECM representative of Assembly 6 (Epidemiology and Environment). 

Insight into the structure and tasks of the Early Career Members Committee of the

In the spotlight: first ERS Early Career Member Award winner, the ERS Lung Science Conference 2020 and new ECMC members

J. Cruz acknowledges the support of the Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare) of the Polytechnic of Leiria, funded by Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (UIDB/05704/2020 and UIDP/05704/2020).

The ECMC provides regular updates on opportunities, events and other important information for ECMs within the ERS on dedicated social network pages. You can follow us via the following links: 

None declared.