Entering the final months – Successful OSTEOproSPINE Consortium Meeting in Dubrovnik

On 12th and 13th October, the OSTEOproSPINE consortium came to Dubrovnik for their 5th Progress Meeting. After two years of virtual meetings, the partners were really happy to meet in-person for the set-up of the final months of the project. The meeting was linked to the 13th BMP Conference hosted by the OSTEOproSPINE Coordinator University of Zagreb – School of Medicine from 8th October to 12th October 2022.

In the beautiful setting of the Dubrovnik autumn season, the OSTEOproSPINE meeting started off with a short recapitulation of the BMP conference presented by Prof. Vukicevic. After that, it was time to discuss management issues and tasks (WP7) – led UZSM. The Eurice Team gladly took the opportunity to discuss the review meeting that had just taken place two weeks earlier, as well as next steps in the communication, dissemination and exploitation of OSTEOproSPINE (WP6). Following a more general discussion, it was time for the consortium to explore the Old Town of Dubrovnik in a guided tour and have dinner right in the city.

The second meeting day focused on clinical as well as research activities and sustainability planning. All scientific work packages were presented by the WP leaders and the partners discussed open questions regarding the study protocols, data management and clinical trial management. Professor Windhager (MUW) presented the latest developments in the clinical trial, while Hermann Oppermann (GEN) gave a status update on the medicinal product supply. The consortium discussed the sustainability of the project in the plenary, exploring opportunities to carry on the work even after the end of OSTEOproSPINE. Mihaela Peric (UZSM) and Bernhard Liegl (QBEX) gave an overview on ethics and regulatory issues.

In the afternoon, the partners formed different working groups for in-depth discussions on the clinical trial, regulatory and ethical questions as well as data management issues. The meeting ended with a joint dinner in the evening.