President’s Greetings 2023

19.12.2023

Respected Colleagues, Dear Friends!

The year 2023 is almost complete and Christmas is just before our doors. Therefore, I would like to take the chance to give you an update on our Association and to express my sincere thanks to all the colleagues who are or were involved in service to the EAVA.

Thanks to Erling Koppang and Håvard Bjørgen and their team from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, we were able to hold our congress face-to-face again. They had made big efforts to arrange not only a high-quality scientific program but also an attractive social program with ample time for communication and networking. Considering that the last time we met in person was in 2018, and our young investigator never had the chance to experience the friendly and fertile atmosphere of the EAVA, it was no surprise that only 98 colleagues registered for the meeting. In the end, there were a couple of drop-outs due to various reasons, and we missed some long-standing colleagues or even friends. However, everybody who was there enjoyed his/her time tremendously. So a big “THANK YOU VERY MUCH” goes to our Norwegian colleagues!!!

Concerning the recent congress we have only one issue to solve, that is the printing of the abstracts. Every author who has presented a poster or has given an oral presentation will be approached in due course.

The future looks bright also, as the General Assembly has approved the bid of Giovanni Mogicato and his team of the École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse to run the EAVA 2025 congress. The last meeting held in Toulouse was before my time in the association, meaning a long time ago.

The nearest event will be the YGVA meeting, organized by Ivan Alić from the University of Zagreb in July this summer. The date to remember is 17-19^th of July. An announcement will be made early in 2024. As I am still young at heart, I am very much looking forward to visiting the University of Zagreb in Croatia.

All these meetings will hopefully promote the wish of you, the members of the EAVA, to come to our congresses, because only a face-to-face meeting can combine science with friendship.

Again, I would like to remind you that you are welcome to contact me if you have questions, ideas, or remarks concerning our association. The board is meeting regularly and will deal with all matters brought to our attention in due course.

I wish you a peaceful and relaxing Christmas time allowing you to load your batteries with new power and ideas.

All the best for a happy, healthy, and successful Year in 2024,

Christiane Pfarrer