Inspiring opening of a forward-looking #EAU14

After an interactive and internationally-oriented first congress day, the 29th Annual EAU Congress in Stockholm was officially opened with a musical introduction and an award ceremony. With a performance by the soprano trio Divine, accompanied by the Stockholm Sinfonietta and the male student choir Stockholms Studentsångare, the delegates were welcomed to the Swedish capital.

After an interactive and internationally-oriented first congress day, the 29th Annual EAU Congress in Stockholm was officially opened with a musical introduction and an award ceremony. With a performance by the soprano trio Divine, accompanied by the Stockholm Sinfonietta and the male student choir Stockholms Studentsångare, the delegates were welcomed to the Swedish capital.

“You are all so very welcome to the capital of my home country, the Venice of the North: Stockholm,” said Secretary General of the EAU, Prof. Per-Anders Abrahamsson. “I hope you enjoyed the music performed by Divine, the Stockholm Sinfonietta, and Stockholms Studentsångare, some of which was classical Swedish folk music.”

Before moving on to the award ceremony to honour the most noteworthy contributions to urology, Abrahamsson noted he sees it as a privilege to have led this association for the last 7 years as he will step down as Secretary General at the 30th Annual Congress in Madrid next year. He then heartily congratulated all of the award winners.

“The future challenges in urology remain the fusion of technological advances and the fundamental relationship with the patient,” said EAU Willy Gregoir Medal winner Prof. Michele Pavone-Macaluso (IT). “My advice to young urologists is therefore to focus on making time to listen to their patients and build a solid doctor-patient relationship,” he continued.

Prof. Louis Denis (BE), winner of the Frans Debruyne Life Time Achievement Award, agreed: “With the ageing population and the increasing emphasis on quality of life, it will become more challenging to combine holistic personalised care with optimal medical treatment. Urological care increasingly needs to be both evidence-based and cost effective.”

He encouraged young urologists to follow their personal preference for a clinical or research specialisation. “Please remember that each and every one is able to grow above themselves and is important to the cause”, Denis said in his acceptance speech.

The EAU Crystal Matula Award 2014 for a young promising European urologist was awarded to Prof. Shahrokh Shariat (AT). Other award winners are Dr. Christopher Netsch (DE), who received the EAU Hans Marberger Award, and Dr. Richard Gaston (FR), winner of this year’s EAU Innovators in Urology Award.

The EAU Prostate Cancer Research Award 2014 went to Prof. Zoran Culig (AT), for his work on Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal cell transitions leading to chemotherapy resistance. This year’s new honorary members, honoured for their outstanding contribution to the advancement of urology and urological research, are Dr. Robert Flanigan (USA), Prof. Seiji Naito (JP), and Prof. Joachim Thüroff (DE).