EH 2_2015

thank you for your confidence YEARS1995 2015 YOUR SPECIALIST FOR LABORATORY, PATHOLOGY AND HISTOLOGY FOR 20 YEARS MADE IN GERMANY www.KUGEL-medical.de www.healthcare-in-europe.com 9LABORATORY 25th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Planning for perfect clinical conditions Keeping up with an ever-evolving science Made to measure laboratories Expecting 10,000 participants, prior to the 25th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark (25-28 April) its Programme Director, Professor Winfried V Kern MD, was keen to point out: ‘The findings and recom- mendations that emerge from this vibrant platform each year have, in the past, had a tremendous impact not only on guidelines and best practices, but also on international policies. ‘With challenges like antibiotic resistance and infection outbreaks to tackle, it remains crucial that healthcare professionals – from clin- ical settings as well as those special- ised in microbiology and epidemiol- ogy – attend this event so that we can jointly discuss and disseminate evidence of advances that will help us better prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases.’ Top-notch sessions Among the one hundred and fifty keynote lectures, symposia, oral ses- sions, educational workshops, meet- the-experts session and around 2,500 poster presentations, ‘… microbiologists and clinicians will have the chance to exchange opin- ions and ideas on how to translate research findings into diagnostic tools, medicines, policies and edu- cation and thus effectively deal with the world’s most pressing infection problems,’ he predicts. Healthcare organisations provid- ing their expertise and validating ECCMID’s significance are WHO Europe, the ECDC and national or disease-specific societies. Together with the WHO, ESCMID has also organised, ahead of ECCMID, the 7th International Day for Fighting Infection, which runs under the slogan ‘Learning from the Past to Shape a Better Future’. Prof. Kern: ‘This year’s Clinical Grand Rounds, co-organised with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and chaired by international experts, will feature seven multifaceted cases. In another session, young professionals will also have the opportunity to dis- cuss their ideas and projects with 20 renowned experts during round table discussions.’ Strong topics include stewardship and other strategies to deal with antibiotic resistance, and specialists In 1995 Claudia and Robert Karl risked self-employment in a sec- tor already dominated by experts. Those manufacturers, however, sold standardised products. The Karls, with backing from a stainless steel producer, decided to produce tailor- made solutions to fit customers’ needs. To that end they attended international medical equipment exhibitions from Dubai through to Malaysia. Today, Claudia Karl believes entrepreneurial thinking and attention to customers’ needs established their success. In the ’90s a friendship with a pathologist from Nijmegen, the Netherlands helped to optimise their products. By 1996 their com- pany, Kugel, based in Regensburg, Germany, fully equipped a newly built forensic centre in Budweis, Czech Republic. ‘There was a lot of backlog demand after the Iron Curtain fell,’ Robert Karl observed. Their product range contains almost everything for a modern lab- oratory and the portfolio expansion continues to expand, with a focus on various tables. ‘Our specialties are the integrated exhaust units for dissection and autopsy tables. We also offer a complete range in antimicrobial susceptibility will also provide an update on break- points and methods for new agents, Kern adds. ‘At the same time, there will be presentations on infections in more specific settings, including in the operating theatre and in long- term care.’ Resurrecting old anti- microbial agents Also included will be a focus on the challenges associated with success- fully developing new therapeutic agents and updates will be provided on the potential of resurrecting old antimicrobial agents and the use ECCMID Programme Director Winfried V Kern MD is Professor of Medicine at the Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, and Head of the Infectious Diseases Division in the Department of Medicine, and Centre for Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine, at Freiburg University Hospital, Germany. The professor gained his medical degree at Karl-Ruprechts-University in Heidelberg, and was trained in Bordeaux, in Erlangen-Nuremberg and Heidelberg, with postgraduate training, residency and fellowships (internal medicine, clinical microbiology, tropical hygiene, infectious diseases, and clinical immunology) in Heidelberg, Ulm, and Tübingen, as well as in Providence and San Francisco, USA. Today his main professional interests lie in bacterial multidrug resistance mechanisms and epidemiology, hospital antibiotic stewardship programmes, healthcare- associated infections including infections in the immune-compromised host. Dr Kern is a past president of the German Society for Infectious Diseases (DGI), co-editor of the German Antibiotic Use and Resistance Atlas (GERMAP), a member of the Drugs & Therapeutics Committee of the Federal Chamber of Physicians and he has worked within the EORTC Infectious Disease Group on clinical trials in cancer patients with infection. Claudia and Robert Karl, Managing directors of Kugel medical Continued on page 10 Continued on page 11 Source:Shutterstock/SUWITNGAOKAEW

EH 2_2015

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