Marisa CostaThis past weekend the six members of the Lupus Europe Board of Trustees plus Alan Cornet, Amy Somers and Zoe Karakikla-Mitsakou were supposed to meet face-to-face in Leuven, Belgium, but for reasons you can understand, this was not possible.
Thanks to understanding partners, children, roommates and dogs, we were able to have two full days of Zoom meetings.
During these two days, we: discussed the Lupus Europe Convention (you’ll hear more about that very soon): reviewed our (52!) Strategic Plan items: went over and updated our ideas and projects for Communications; made so many plans for meetings and calls regarding research, upcoming scientific events, the PAN and our sponsors; and shared any news that we have had from all of our members.
You probably recognize all the faces except one: Zoe Karakikla-Mitsakou. Zoe, (a Greek woman, living in England, who has a degree in psychology but also first-hand experience with lupus) has accepted to join Lupus Europe as a project manager. This was her first real work meeting with us, and we are so excited to be working with her!
The board members are still connecting with the country members to check up on how everyone is doing in these COVID times. So, don’t be surprised if you get an email from one of use asking to chat. We appreciated getting a live update on what is happening with Lupus Poland from Klaudia Kępa during our meeting.
This year Kirsi will be stepping down as Lupus Europe Trustee (but we are counting on her to remain involved with Lupus Europe as an experienced PAN member – we’re not letting her go just yet!). However, this means we are looking for members who are interested in taking their lupus work to a more international level: either as a trustee, or perhaps easier to start off, as a co-opt.
Contact any of the board members to ask about what either of those positions involve, and definitely ask what it’s like to work with all of us, it’s a good group!
Save the date! October 5th at 20:00 to 21:00 Paris time.
The Lupus Europe board will hold a webinar to update you on all these items. We look forward to seeing you all online!
Lupus Europe Board of Trustees
