News from the President
It is my pleasure to share a significant advancement in ISPE’s ongoing globalisation—reflecting both the diversity and the global scope of our membership.
Historically, ISPE has organised two scientific meetings each year: the Annual Meeting, alternating between North America and Europe, and a Mid-Year Meeting, also held in either North America or Europe. In addition, for nearly 20 years, an annual regional meeting has been hosted in Asia, along with regular EuroDURG meetings.
In recent years, new proposals for regional meetings in Africa, Latin America, and the Gulf region have highlighted the growing global interest in ISPE activities. In response, the Board of Directors has approved a new ISPE meetings calendar that allows for up to four meetings each year, distributed across different continents.
As part of this update, Asia has been incorporated into the rotation for the Annual Meeting, creating a three-year cycle between North America, Europe, and Asia. The next Annual Meetings are planned for Europe (Milan, Italy) in 2026, North America (Seattle, USA) in 2027, and Asia (Tokyo, Japan) in 2028.
The Mid-Year Meeting has been re-envisioned as an ISPE-sponsored regional meeting. In 2026, it will take place in Accra, Ghana, organised by colleagues from the African Regional Interest Group. For 2027, the Gulf Regional Interest Group is preparing a proposal to host the Mid-Year Meeting in their region.
In addition to these two traditional ISPE meetings, there will be opportunities for up to two additional regional meetings each year. The Asian Conference for Pharmacoepidemiology (ACPE) will continue to convene annually, except in years when the Annual Meeting is held in Asia. Regional meetings in Africa, Latin America, and meetings of EuroDURG will also be sponsored once every three years. In fact, in 2025 both the EuroDURG meeting in Uppsala (July) and the Latin American Meeting in Sorocaba (October) were highly successful and very well attended, underscoring the value of these regional initiatives. There is also flexibility for proposals for a fourth sponsored meeting, for example in North America during years when the Annual and Mid-Year Meetings are held on other continents.
As the number of meetings continues to grow, harmonisation across events has become increasingly important. To support this, a Scientific Meetings Oversight Committee (SMOC) has been newly established. This committee will oversee the planning and execution of all ISPE scientific meetings (whether co-sponsored or not), aiming to ensure high scientific quality as well as harmonization across meetings. All meeting proposals must follow the newly approved procedures and should be submitted to info@pharmacoepi.org at least two years before the proposed meeting date.
The new ISPE meetings calendar, together with the work of the dedicated committee, represents an important milestone for our expanding and globally engaged society. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to everyone who has contributed to shaping this vision and who continues to support its implementation. I am confident that many of our members will benefit from these developments, and I look forward to meeting many of you at future ISPE events.
