About PReS

Call for applications for new PReS Council Members 2022

Dear PReS Members,  

As previously announced in the PReS Newsletter, and in accordance the PReS byelaws, four PReS Council positions will become open for election this year, namely for Clinical Affairs, Education and Training, Research and Health Professionals.  

To ensure smooth transition between the current and future Council members, we aim to have these positions already elected at the PReS AGM in Prague on 22^nd September 2022. They will be expected to work closely alongside the current incumbents of the role for a year, including attending relevant Council meetings, as positions-Elect.

Newly elected PReS Council members will commence their new roles formerly from the PReS General Assembly meeting in 2023.

The PReS Executive and Council are looking for candidates who are fully committed to contributing to and advancing the goals of the PReS Mission and Vision (see website), the success of ‘PRES 2025 initiatives’, and the continued growth and development of PReS.

Candidates would be expected to have had senior positions within their own local / national context (and preferably also international), in which they have had roles and responsibilities demonstrating outstanding leadership qualities, senior management experience, and leadership of large, multi-professional teams. In view of the range of meetings associated with this role entails, candidates need to be resident and working in Europe.

Though experience and expertise are important, these are not the only prerequisites. The current PReS Executive and Council are looking for excellent team players with a clear vision of the future of paediatric rheumatology, willing to explore new ideas and able spend and invest time to contribute to the future of PReS. The current PReS Executive and Council feels that the Executive and Council should reflect gender balance and geographical representation, where possible. The PReS Executive aims for a democratic process open to all PReS members.

In view of the importance and responsibility of these positions, to gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of the position, any potential candidates would be expected to arrange to speak confidentially with any of the current PReS Executive and/or current Council incumbent of the role. Brief role descriptions are given below.

Nominations and elections

In line with our constitution, we will be undertaking a democratic process open to all PReS Members. All these positions are open to nominations. An anonymous, electronic election will take place in early September 2022, prior to the General Assembly. Importantly:

• Only PReS Members in good standing with the Society are eligible to self-nominate.
• Only those with current PReS Membership will be eligible to vote. Please apply to become / renew your membership now, to enable you to vote.

• The results will be formally announced at the beginning of the PReS 2022 General Assembly.

All applicants will need to submit their applications by 12.00hrs (CEST) on 5^th September 2022:

• For the positions of Research, Clinical Affairs and Education, please send a Curriculum Vitae including professional biography and a Letter of Motivation to:
  • Michael Beresford (m.w.beresford@liverpool.ac.uk), Secretary of PReS;
  • Tadej Avcin tadej.avcin@kclj.si, Secretary Elect, PReS; and
  • Angelo Ravelli (angeloravelli@gaslini.org), President of PReS.
• For the position of Health Professionals, please send your CV and Letter of Motivation also to:
  • Jeannette Cappon (jeannette.cappon@tiscali.nl)
  • In addition, please send a short video (max 2 minutes) where you introduce yourself, tell something about your actual work and committees membership and complete the sentence.. "If I would be HP Chair…..” 

For all positions, the candidate’s CV and Letter of Motivation will be made available to all members as part of the voting process.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Prague very soon,

Angelo Ravelli, President of PRES

On behalf of the PRES Executive

Appendix: Brief role descriptions

The following positions are open for nominations:

• Chairs of Clinical Affairs, Education and Training, Research, and Health Professionals Sub-Committees.

These are all elected positions that sit on the PReS Council (see website). The Council shall be responsible for deciding on the Society’s strategy and shall pass all resolutions which by law or these articles of association do not fall within the remit of another body.

In accordance with the PReS Byelaws:

• No more than two members of the Council should come from the same country.
• The members of the Council shall be elected for a non-renewable term of four years. (There is an additional year as position-Elect).
• The elected members of the Council must be active members and work actively in the field of paediatric rheumatology in Europe.
• The members of the Council, Executive Committee and subcommittees shall work on a voluntary basis and shall only be entitled to claim a refund of their effective expenses and travelling costs.

In accordance with the revised EULAR byelaws, each of these positions will also sit, subject to approval by the EULAR Council, on the EULAR Paediatric Committee.

Clinical Affairs

Being Chair of Clinical Affairs sub-committee is to be a team player, being part of interactive discussions with both the Education and Research Chairs during the Council meetings and throughout the whole term. Specific aspects of the role include:

• Sharing expertise in clinical diagnosis and care.
• To be involved in the PReS Web site, to include more detailed information in many aspects, literature updates, all the questionnaires and tools in the different diseases, updated PReS guidelines (e.g. the covid-19 recommendations).
• To be involved in the development of the Fellowship program, together with EMERGE.
• To strengthen the links between the PReS Working Parties 2.0, EMERGE, ENCA and PRINTO.
• To help in organizing educational basic and advanced courses, along with the Chair of Education and the Academy.

Education and Training

PReS is committed to provide training and education to its global community of pediatric rheumatologists and health professional, especially supporting trainees and fostering new generations. The Chair of the Education and Training Committee (ETC) leads this committee. 

Currently the main activities linked with the ETC there are: Basic and Advance courses, under the umbrella of PReS Academy, PReS Knowledge Based exam, PReS Sister Hospital Initiative, between others. The ETC Chair also coordinates with national representatives and keeps updated information regarding status of pediatric rheumatology in different countries. 

The ETC Chair works closely with other Council members and is involved in supporting Global Task Force projects. Moreover, the ETC Chair represents PReS at the European Academy of Pediatrics and is actively involved in EULAR committees (see above).

Health Professionals

The Chair of Health Professionals (HP) in PReS:

• Represents the HP Community of Practice and Science (ComPaS) in the PReS Council and advocates for the development of HP ComPaS
• Leads the ComPaS towards a lively multidisciplinary network by writing newsletters, organizing ZOOM meetings, and posting content on the website
• Facilitates activities and projects in collaboration with PReS Council pillars: Educational, Clinical and Research affairs and WP’s.
• Designs as member of the annual Scientific Congress Committee the Health Professional Program within the annual congress.
• Has a multidisciplinary perspective (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists, etc)
• Is a team-player

Research

In accordance with the in line with the PReS byelaws and PReS Mission, the Chair of the Research Sub-committee, is responsible for:

• Fostering excellence and supporting the advancement of clinical, basic and translational Research across the Society and through collaboration with key partners of PReS
• Working in close collaboration with the Chairs and Research leads of the PReS Working Parties 2.0, in developing and delivering a PReS Research Strategy
• Promoting the implementation of advances in clinical, basic, and translational research to help children reach their full potential, together with patient and parent organisations (ENCA) and the rest of the PReS Council
• Working closely with EMERGE and Health Professionals to support the next generation of research leaders and multi-disciplinary research
• Working closely with all of the PReS Executive and Council in helping underpin the PReS Mission and PReS 2025 Initiatives with excellence in research