In June, the topic leaders of the “Sepsis & Complex Bacterial Infections” group (Prof. Tom van der Poll, Dr. Kim Sigaloff and Dr. Bas Haak) organized a successful kick-off meeting, marking the start of collaboration and information sharing within the topic of sepsis and complex bacterial infections within the Amsterdam institute for Immunology and Infectious diseases (AI&I) community. Given the complexity and clinical impact of sepsis and bacterial infections, fostering collaboration is essential for advancing research and patient care.

Preparation

To ensure broad participation, the topic leaders started with a ‘mail-to-all’ via the AI&I mailing list, inviting all researchers working on sepsis and complex bacterial infections to express their interest by filling out a short Google Form which took less than five minutes to complete. This approach enabled the topic leaders to quickly map ongoing research and identify potential speakers.

Dr. Sigaloff: ‘As topic leaders, we carefully selected five researchers to present on behalf of their research groups, ensuring a balanced mix of basic and clinical science, as well as gender diversity. Each speaker received a personal invitation, along with a reminder to submit their presentations in advance.’ In addition, a general invitation and reminders were sent out to the wider community, with the AI&I policy staff taking care of the venue and catering arrangements.

Event format

The kick-off meeting was designed to be concise and engaging: a one-hour session with five speakers, each presenting a 10-minute pitch about their research, followed by informal networking over drinks. The event brought together a dynamic group of 25 to 30 attendees.

An overview of the presenters, topics, and times is provided below:

  • 16:05– Wouter de Jonge - Neonatal sepsis and intestinal failure
  • 16:15– Sabine Hermans -Tuberculosis
  • 16:25– Edgar Peters- Complex bone and joint infections
  • 16:35– Nicole van der Wel - Combating infections with electron microscopy
  • 16:45– Sébastien Matamoros - Molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases

According to the topic leaders, key success factors included the low-threshold opportunity for researchers to share their work and discover connections with others in the field. Furthermore, the format required minimal preparation from speakers but offered significant potential for new collaborations and insights.

Outcomes

This event provided the topic leaders with a valuable overview of the diversity of research projects within their field. Furthermore, the event immediately sparked new collaborations and fostered cross-pollination, as researchers exchanged models and techniques. Dr. Haak: ‘A great example is the fact that some attendees started exploring the use of molecular diagnostics for complex bone infections and applying electron microscopy to (myco)bacterial infections’. The lively networking session led to new connections, with interested researchers reaching out to each other to continue exchanging ideas and expertise in the coming weeks.

No follow-up event is scheduled yet, but the ‘mail-to-all’ email identified a strong pool of senior researchers who could fill a future session. Future sessions will also provide PhD students with a platform to present their work to a broad and interested audience.

Open invitation to other topic leaders

Inspired to connect your research community?We encourage all other topic and theme leaders within the AI&I community to consider organizing a similar kick-off event. If you are interested, please let us know. We are happy to help you get started, including arranging the venue and catering.

Text: Esmée Vesseur, Bas Haak and Kim Sigaloff

Read more about other bottom-up events organized by our members: