Dear Colleagues,

At the last  ILTS/ELITA/ LICAGE Meeting in Istanbul I was named the new president of LICAGE by the board. This is an honour and privilege for me and I want to thank our former President Fuat Saner for his continuous efforts to advance our society in the past four difficult years. 

Since its’ foundation in 1987 patient care in the peri-operative setting of liver transplantation has evolved dramatically not only through the efforts of our society but also thanks to the commitment of our members.

All societies, including LICAGE had a difficult time the last three years I which we had to adapt to drastic changes. Rest asure, we survived this difficult period and  more important, learned about our weaknesses and our strengths.

During the next four years, I want to commit myself and our board to increase the visibility of our society in the medical community with renewed energy. Our focus will be on improving our meetings and workshops. We will expand educational opportunities for all physicians active in the field and by doing so, also promote research in the field. In order to meet our goals, our board has decided to appoint dedicated scientific officers( Annabel Blasi, Dimitri Bezinover and Emmanuel Weiss) to guide this process.

Finally, It is my strong belief that we need to recruit and attract the young generation of physicians. Special attention will be given to gender equity in our society. Our board has enough seniority and experience to guide youngsters into the process of becoming the new leaders in the field and at the same time these young colleagues can also modernize our society by introducing new technology, new ideas and strengthening our media presence.

In order to achieve this, we also want to hear all your ideas and suggestions.

I am looking forward to work with you over the next four years and ask you to keep supporting us by your membership.

Best regards,

Koen M. Reyntjens

September 2022