PERISCOPE Kick-off Meeting
From March 2nd to 4th, 2016, the PERISCOPE consortium came together in Dublin, Ireland for officially starting project activities that will now be continued for a total duration of 60 months. The Kick-off Meeting was hosted by PERISCOPE partner Kingston Mills from Trinity College Dublin and took place in the nearby Davenport Hotel located in the heart of the city.
The meeting was opened by PERISCOPE coordinator Professor Ronald de Groot from Radboud University Medical Center (RUMC) in Nijmegen. He welcomed our external guest, Tod Merkel, from the US Food and Drug Administration as well as Angela Wittelsberger and Desmond Barry representing the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). After some opening remarks, all work package leaders shortly presented the planned work and objectives within the different work packages of the project, followed by several group discussions on pressing issues for the successful set-up of all project activities. The second meeting day served necessary break-out discussions on key elements within the project that ultimately led to several agreements on next steps in project implementation. The day was rounded off with a Reception at the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute on invitation of the Dean and Vice President of Research of the Trinity College Dublin, Prof. John J. Boland.
The last meeting day was dedicated to discussing the set-up of clinical trials and materials necessary for the work within the different project tasks. The meeting was rounded off on midday with a summary and some concluding remarks by Professor Roland de Groot.
Altogether, the meeting was of utmost importance for a smooth start of project activities with intense discussions laying the ground for good collaboration and exchange within the consortium throughout the lifetime of the project.
