At the ESCP Annual Meeting in Nice this September, Gianluca Pellino MD, will speak about ‘Eurosurg and Massive Online Global Research Collaboratives’ on behalf of Eurosurg, as part of the symposium 'Coloproctology 3.0 : The Cutting Edge of Online Innovation'.
Native Italian Gianluca is currently a specialist doctor at Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain and PhD student at Universitá della Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli', Naples, Italy. He is also a European Coloproctology Fellow of AECP, having completed an ESCP Fellowship to London in 2016, and is a Young ESCP member.
Gianluca helped establish Eurosurg, which provides students and trainees with the opportunity to conduct their own research which has the potential to influence the ways colorectal specialists work across the globe.
His session in Nice will specifically look at the importance of global collaboratives and the role of social media which acts as a catalyst for connecting researchers from all over the world. Gianluca explains:
“It’s apparent that students are more passionate than ever before about their professional development and are enthusiastic to develop and nurture new skills. They are eagerly anticipating opportunities to get involved in research and we felt there was a real need to form collaboratives in Europe as well as other specific nations, for example the Italian equivalent which is called Itsurg and is chaired by Dr. Francesco Pata.”
Although the colorectal community is more active than ever before on social media, Gianluca believes that most colorectal surgeons are still new to this method of communication and some may even be reluctant to it.
“It’s important for attendees [at the ESCP Annual Meeting in Nice] to see the benefits of how we can further improve research and collaboration through social platforms and technologies. This session is all about that and gives them the opportunity to voice their own views and opinions on how this can be enhanced even further,” he said.
ESCP is committed to facilitating an inclusive conference that is open to all which will provide a great opportunity for students to hear and learn from the top speakers in the field. Gianluca recognises that for some students, it will be their very first conference: “It’s a valuable opportunity for students to physically engage with industry leaders and broaden their horizons.”
Patients and their engagement and participation in online conversations will also be discussed at the conference. This is one reason why Gianluca believes it is vital to develop positive and informative narratives online. He says:
“We have established specific hashtags such as #colorectalsurgery and #colorectalresearch which have helped to filter out the noise of non-scientific information. This is one method we’ve used to ensure data dissemination over social networks is much more effective.”
Young ESCP’s latest Eurosurg study investigates body mass index and complications following major gastrointestinal surgery: ‘A prospective international cohort study and meta-analysis’. Gianluca says:
“This is a great example of what can be achieved as a collaborative. The study accomplished valuable results which are already having a strong impact on colorectal surgery.”
The study can be viewed here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/codi.14292
Book your place at the 13th Scientific and Annual Meeting of ESCP in Nice here
Gianluca Pellino is speaking at Coloproctology 3.0: The Cutting Edge of Online Innovation, 17:00 - 18:30 on Wednesday 26 September 2018