Among the presenters were several PhD students from ISPM and two of them won prize awards. Garyfallos Konstantinoudis won the first prize for the presentation of non-laboratory research. The presentation was entitled “Spatial clustering of childhood leukaemia in Switzerland”. Garyfallos’ results suggest that leukaemia cases tend to form clusters in space. This might reflect the effects of local pollution sources. The study was funded by the Swiss cancer research and the Swiss national science foundation.
Annette Weiss won the third prize for the presentation on “Auditory complications after childhood cancer in Switzerland”. Annette`s project determined the prevalence of hearing loss and tinnitus in Swiss childhood cancer long-term survivors compared to siblings by using data from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivors Study. The study confirms that chemotherapy with platinum compounds, cranial radiation and brain surgery are risk factors for hearing loss after childhood cancer. The Swiss Cancer League and the European Union funded this project.
SSC/SSCC-SSP joint annual meeting
A joint annual meeting of the Swiss Society for Cardiology (SSC), Swiss Society for Cardiac and Thoracic Vascular Surgery (SSCC), and Swiss Society for Pneumology (SGP) took place at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne on 15th – 17th of June this year.
Florian Halbeisen won a prize for the best abstract in pneumology with his study “Lung function in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD): a multinational study”. Florian’s study described lung function in a large retrospective international PCD cohort compared to the normal population and to lung function in cystic fibrosis patients. The study was funded by the EU FP7 project BESTCILIA, the Foundation Milena Carvajal - Pro-Kartagener and the cantonal lung leagues Bern, St. Gallen, Ticino, Valais and Vaud.
