EAS Members' General Assembly 2011

1. Chairpersons’ Introduction and Welcome

The Chair, EAS President Professor John Chapman (JC) welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.

2. Approval of Minutes of Previous General Assembly

The minutes of the previous General Assembly (June 2010, Hamburg) were approved without amendment or comment.

3. President’s Report

The report by EAS President, Professor John Chapman is available HERE

Key points:
Society’s infrastructure: creation of operational sub-committees to support the Executive Committee

• Scientific Committee
• Election Committee
• Committee for Development of Educational Activities
• Congress Committee
• Committee for Development of National Atherosclerosis Society Relations
• Committee for Development of Corporate Partnerships
• Committee on Guidelines and Pharmacotherapy

Programme of Initiatives

• Development of Guidelines, and the launch of the ESC-EAS Joint Guidelines on management of dyslipidemia
• Activities of the EAS Consensus Panel, and the publication of Consensus Position Papers             

-Lipoprotein(a) as a cardiovascular risk factor: current status (European Heart Journal doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehq386) 
-Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease: evidence and guidance for management (European Heart Journal doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehr112)

Programme of Educational Activities
A series of EAS Advanced Courses have taken place or are planned:

• Advanced Course I: Clinical Lipidology, Milan, April 2011, Organiser: A.L. Catapano
• Advanced Course II: Metabolomics for clinical research, Helsinki, September 2011, Organisers: J. Borén, M. Orešič
• Advanced Course III: Clinical Excellence in Lipidology, Paris, spring 2012 (date TBC), Organisers: E Bruckert and O Wiklund

Supporting meetings of others: EAS has supported the following meetings:

• Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease, September 29th- October 2nd, 2011, Organizers: Georg Wick and Cecilia Grundtman, Innsbruck Medical University, Obergurgl University Center, Austria
• International Atherosclerosis Research School iARS, August 21st-26th, 2011 Prague, Czech Republic, Organizers: Michal Vrablic (Prague, Czech Republic) and Alexander Laatsch (Hamburg, Germany)
• 2011 Gordon Research Conference on Atherosclerosis, June 19-24, Newport, USA
• Detecting vulnerable atherosclerosis: experimental and clinical future perspective, June 29 – 30, 2011 Gothenburg, Sweden, Organizer: Eva Hurt-Camejo
• ESC-EAS Guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: Focus on dyslipidemia, June 29, 2011, Gothenburg, Sweden, Organizers: Olov Wiklund and Alberico L. Catapano
• Genetics and epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, June 30 - July 1, 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark, Organizer: Anne Tybjærg-Hansen ´

Web-based Educational activities: development of EAS website is planned, to include:

• Webcasts of sessions from EAS Congresses, including EAS 2011,
• Webcasts of EAS Advanced Courses and Educational activities are under consideration
• EAS-heartwire newsfeed from theheart.org (currently available) 

Fellowships:

• an activity intended to promote networking and collaborations between European laboratories. Collaborative research projects are basic or applied/clinical for one year. Two awards made during 2011.

Joint Sessions

• Joint Workshops at EAS 2011 Gothenburg with ESC, ICCR and EACPR
• Joint Workshops at ESC 2011

Future priorities: to continue to develop the programme of activities and initiatives initiated 2010-2011, with focus on:

• Educational Activities, e.g., EAS Advanced Courses
• Website platform as an educational tool
• Initiatives: EAS Consensus Papers and Guidelines
• Collaborative programmes with other learned societies in the field and our Corporate Partners
• Support of basic and clinical research as a function of funding possibilities

4. EAS Guidelines

Professor Alberico L. Catapano, Co-chair of the Task Force for the ESC-EAS Joint Guidelines on Management of Dyslipidemia informed EAS members that these Guidelines would be published June 29, 2011, and that a Plenary lecture and satellite meeting on the Guidelines would take place at EAS 2011, both also on June 29. Prof Catapano acknowledged the efforts of his colleagues, including Prof Željko Reiner, Prof Marja-Riitta Taskinen, Prof Guy de Backer, Prof Olov Wiklund and Prof Ian Graham, in the preparation of the Guidelines.

5. Administrative Executive’s Report

The report by the EAS Administrative Executive, Dr Carmel Hayes, is available HERE

Key points:

• Membership benefits
• Membership statistics 2010
• Website development
• Awards and prizes 2010

6. Vote on Amendments to By-laws

a. Requested by EC member Ann Soutar during the EAS General Assembly 2010, an amendment to:

Article 5(b): Appointment of Honorary members.
EXISTING TEXT: APPOINTMENT OF HONORARY MEMBERS
Any Ordinary Member of the Society is entitled to propose, with the support of at least four other members, the name of a distinguished person judged suitable for Honorary Membership. Such proposals shall be made to the Executive Committee, which makes the final decision. Appointed Honorary Members shall be presented at the annual Members’ Assembly.
Change to: Appointment of Honorary Members
Any Ordinary Member of the Society is entitled to propose, with the support of at least four other members, the name of a distinguished person judged suitable for Honorary Membership. Such proposals shall be made to the Executive Committee 3 months before the annual General Assembly. If the nomination(s) is(are) accepted by the Executive Committee, the election of the Honorary member shall be decided at the General Assembly by a members’ vote.
Summary: Final decision on appointment of Honorary Member rests on a members’ vote at the General Assembly, not with the Executive Committee.

b. Requested by EAS bank legal team, an amendment to:

Article 8: Finances
Existing text: ARTICLE 8 - FINANCES
…The President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, the Secretary, and, if appointed, the Administrative Executive can each officially sign contracts and legal or financial documents for the Society. They should be registered with the Swedish authority as having ‘power of signature’.
Change to:
…The President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, the Secretary, and, if appointed, the Administrative Executive can each officially sign contracts and legal or financial documents for the Society.
i.e., DELETE sentence “They should be registered with the Swedish authority as having ‘power of signature’.”
Summary: There is no Swedish authority where this information is required to be registered. It is sufficient that (i) it stands in the Society’s constitution which officers have power of signatory, and (ii) that it is recorded in the minutes of at least one meeting per year the names of the persons holding these offices.

Both amendments were approved unanimously.

7. Treasurer’s Report

The report by the EAS Treasurer, Professor Jan Boren, is available HERE 

Key points:

• Goal is to “break even”, and use the income to support activities for EAS members
• Several activities planned in 2010 (Advanced Courses, EAS Fellowships and Summer School) will affect the budget in 2011
• Therefore, the surplus from 2010 should be used to cover a predicted loss in 2011

8. EAS Elections

Report from Chair of the Election Committee, Prof Luis Masana.

Election of EC member

• Executive Committee member1 vacant position Elected candidate would take on the position in January 2012, a four-year term (January 2012-December 2015)
• Received: Nominations from National Atherosclerosis Societies, Nominations from EAS members, Proposals from Election committee members
• The EAS aims for a balance of gender, expertise and geographical areas throughout Europe when considering candidates for Executive Committee members
• Election: Sept 10-Oct 07
• Info on candidate shortlist to be placed on EAS website in advance of the election.

Election of Secretary Elect

• Elected candidate would take on the "elect" position in January 2012, followed by a four-year term as Secretary (January 2013-December 2016) Present incumbent is eligible for immediate re-election for a second term.
• Prof Petri Kovanen, Helsinki (current Secretary) will stand to be elected for a second term
• No other nominations received for this post. Prof Kovanen will stand unchallenged for a second term.

Election of President Elect

• Elected candidate would take on the "elect" position in January 2012, followed by a four-year term as President (January 2013-December 2016) Present incumbent is not eligible for immediate re-election for a second term.
• 1 nomination received
• Prof Alberico L. Catapano, Milan will stand as the single candidate for election as President Elect

Appointment of Honorary Member: from the EAS Constitution

• “Honorary Members. Persons of distinction in the field of atherosclerosis, or who have been of particular service to the Society, shall be eligible for election as Honorary Members. Honorary Members shall have the same right as Ordinary Members to take part in discussions and to vote at meetings of the Society, but shall not hold office and shall not pay any subscription.”
• “Any Ordinary Member of the Society is entitled to propose, with the support of at least four other members, the name of a distinguished person judged suitable for Honorary Membership.”
• Existing honorary members; Mr Anders Olsson, Prof Yechezkiel Stein, Prof Olga Stein
• Nomination: Professor Rodolfo Paoletti, nominated by; Rafael Carmena, Marja-Riitta Taskinen, CesareR. Sitori, Alberico L. Catapano. With the support of Professor Andrea Mezzetti, President of the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis (SISA)
• The proposal to appoint Professor Rodolfo Paoletti as an Honorary member of the EAS was carried unanimously.

9. Report on EAS 2011

The report by the EAS 2011 Co-chair, Professor Jan Boren, is available HERE

10. Report on Future Congresses

The report by the Chair of the Congress Committee, and special advisor to the President on matters concerning Congress, Professor Marja-Riitta Taskinen, is available HERE

Key points: 

• EAS 2012 Milan, May 25-28, 2012, Chair: Professor Alberico L Catapano
• EAS 2013 Lyon, June 1-4, 2013, Chair: Professor Philippe Moulin
• EAS 2014 will be held in Madrid, with celebration of the 50th Anniversary of EAS, Chair: Prof. Jesús Millán Núñez-Cortés. Congratulations to the Spanish Atherosclerosis Society on their successful bid to host the Congress. Special thanks to the proposers of the very competitive bid from Dublin.
• EAS 2015: ISA meeting will take place in Amsterdam. Possible collaboration between IAS and EAS is under discussion.

11. Report from Atherosclerosis editor-in-chief

Prof Chapman presented a report on behalf of the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Professor Steve Humphries.
Key points:
Brief statistics on Atherosclerosis Journal: 2010

• 1527 submitted manuscripts
• 39 different countries worldwide
• accepted manuscripts papers on line in less than 6 weeks 
• 2-3 months from proof stage to publication.
• rejection rate
• 70% of clinical
• 55% of basic research
• since 2008, 20 of our published articles have been cited 30 times or more,
• online Atherosclerosis: 848,221 downloads in 2010

12. Membership fee 2012

Proposed fees 2012

• 40 € for members aged over 35 years
• 20 € for members aged 35 years and under

= no change from 2011
This proposal was approved by majority vote without comment.

13. AOB

These points were raised during the meeting:

• The EC members and members expressed appreciation and thanks to Professor Rudi Zechner, who will step down as an EC member at the end of 2011, and who has contributed to the activities of the Society as the Chair of the Scientific Committee.
• Robert Fraser, a member attending the Congress from New Zealand expressed thanks for the help he had received from the EAS Office.
• The time at which the General Assembly is to be held in the future was queried. This year it has been scheduled so as to be independent of scientific activities. In order to enable more members to attend it was agreed that a preferable slot would be just ahead of the Opening Ceremony. This to be taken into consideration for EAS 2012, Milan.
• Prof Eva Hurt-Camejo acknowledged the Society’s support for the EAS 2011 Congress satellite of which she is co-organizer – similar support may encourage others to organize satellite meetings at future Congresses.
• Prof Chapman acknowledged and thanked the members of the Executive Committee for the time, energy and commitment they contribute to the activities of the Society.

14. Close of meeting

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