Nomination of the Young Investigator Representative to the EASL Governing Board EASL is pleased to announce that Dr. Vincenzo Cardinale has been elected as the YI Representative to the EASL Governing Board. His appointment will enable him to represent all young hepatologists currently still in training, and to voice opinions, needs and proposals. EASL warmly welcomes Dr. Cardinale and looks forward to greeting him during the upcoming Governing Board meeting that will take place in September.

Personal message from Dr. Cardinale: My personal objective as YOUR Young Investigator representative is to act as a catalyst of proposed ideas and projects in order to communicate them to the EASL Governing Board with the aim of achieving them. This ambitious objective will require exchange of information, involvement from all of us and efficient collaboration within the YI Forum, ensuring that we work in a democratic way. I am hoping to create a positive effect and am convinced that the EASL YI Forum is a sustainable project that will enable us to create more and better opportunities for sharing our common scientific goals. With this in mind, I want to wish to you, dear colleagues of the Young Investigator Forum, and to the EASL Governing Board, a fruitful and enthusiastic exchange, and collaboration. All the best, Vincenzo Cardinale

Address your message to Dr. Vincenzo Cardinale

Dr. Vincenzo Cardinale's ideas for the Young Investigator Forum:

Rationale:

• Great heterogeneity exists concerning research and training efforts in Academic Institutes and in related Bio-Medical Departments along Europe. Some institutes do not recognize a pivotal point in research in which efforts and resources are invested. This creates a problem for young MDs or PhDs that are in training in such institutes. These young and brilliant colleagues can never have their attitude and voluntary status to be involved in research areas evaluated, determining loss of opportunities for individual people, but also for the international scientific community and for the EASL Young Investigators Forum.

Aim: Try to alleviate this problem.

Purpose / Ideas:

• Offer the School of Specialisations in disciplines involving hepatology or Doctorate Programs related to the hepatology area the opportunity to obtain bursaries for MDs and PhDs that are unable to send abstracts, enabling them to attend The International Liver Congress™.
• Entrust the Directors of the School of Specializations and Doctorate Programs with actions from co-national EASL members to provide funds for MDs and PhDs to attend The International Liver Congress™.
• Increase the information on EASL opportunities for Young Investigators not covered in areas by co-national EASL members actions (whether young or not) or by appropriate awareness campaigns created by EASL Young Investigators.
• Increase the opportunity of meetings for Young Investigators.
• Increase the number of programs created by Young Investigators for Young Investigators and candidate Young Investigators.
• Increase the exchange of MDs and PhDs from non-virtuous institutes to EASL associated institutes.
• Encourage and sustain, also by funding, the return of EASL Young Investigators to their home institutes, following EASL sponsored research training.

Expected Results:

• Alleviate the opportunity loss for individual young people involved as MDs or PhDs in the hepatology area and increase collaborations between virtuous and non-virtuous institutes through young people exchanges; create an opportunity for Young Investigators to return, work and improve their home institutes; finally detect young talent in hepatology research otherwise unretrievable.