Task Force Initiatives
o Global Musculoskeletal Health
Led by Chris Scott, Helen Foster
o Global Research Task Force
Led by Brian Feldman, Niocla Ruperto
o Fostering the next generation of translational researchers
Led by Annette van Royen, Johannes Roth
Welcome to our December 2023 e-Newsletter
Dear Friends,As we near the end of a roller coaster 2023 it is time to put out another Global Task Force Newsletter. Our community has continued to work together in the spirit of our common cause to improve the lives of young people living with musculoskeletal conditions. We continue to draw strength from the selfless determination of my friends and colleagues in this community. Much has been achieved and much remains to be done.
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Welcome to our June 2023 e-Newsletter
Dear Friends,
The first half of 2023 is nearly behind us. It feels like we have barely had time to dust ourselves off from the COVID years and we are back to our ‘new normal’ and going at a pace that seems to be accelerating all the time. There are many new challenges for us as planet and for our social and political systems. I am always amazed at how we as healthcare workers seem to be able to work together to make a better world for the children and families that we serve. In the case of the Global Task Force, we do this on behalf of children and families challenged with musculoskeletal conditions. We know that all the work that you put into the Global Task Force is voluntary,
that you have to sacrifice family and social time in order to achieve this and for some of you the burden is exacerbated by having to accommodate international time zones. It is these sacrifices, however, that have seen us achieve globally relevant outcomes for our community and that continue to give hope and inspiration to others.
In this edition of the newsletter we reflect on some of these achievements from our colleagues around the world.
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Welcome to our December 2022 e-Newsletter and to our expanding global community
What a long, strange trip 2022 has been! At some point in this year many of us started to resume our lives in a fashion that closely approximates the normal we knew before the pandemic.
Whilst we are more easily working from home and having more online meetings, many of us have resumed travel (with all its new challenges) and started to regain the joy of face to face meetings. The PReS, ACR and BSR meetings in September and November were wonderful occasions for us to meet up again and rediscover the joy and warmth of in person meetings. Indeed, the Global Task Force, which was convened just before the pandemic struck, had rarely opportunity to meet formally and in person. So, it was a few months after our third birthday that we managed to fill a conference room in Prague to capacity and meet one another face to face to carry forward our goal to positively impact the lives of children and families from across the globe who are living with musculoskeletal conditions. What a pleasure it was to feel the strength of our common cause and hear reflections from literally all over the globe.
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Welcome to our June 2022 e-Newsletter and to our expanding global community
We hope that you find the articles in our June Newsletter inspiring and energising – ‘working better together’ is the way forwards and is so neatly encapsulated in this African proverb:
‘If you want to go fast, go alone – if you want to go further, go together’
An introduction from Prof Chris Scott
The only constant in life is change and this is especially true for the dynamic members of the Task Force!
Congratulations to Prof Claudia Saad-Maghalães from Brazil who has kindly agreed to replace Prof Helen Foster as Co-Chair on the Task Force. Helen, who has led from selflessly from the front and conceptualised the very idea of a Task Force, will continue to be actively involved, focusing on the further development and dissemination of the PMM suite of educational materials. Claudia brings to the TF a lifetime of experience in leadership, advocacy and clinical care in paediatric rheumatology and I personally look forward to working with her very much in this new role. Helen has been appointed to the Global Alliance for MSK Health International Coordinating Council, so she will be able to make further great contributions to our cause from her new position!
