The European Sepsis Academy (ESA) has initiated the Innovative Training Network (ITN) which offers PhD students a sepsis-oriented joint training programme at institutes and companies in the field
The main goals of the ESA-ITN are to develop and validate the pathological findings, biomarker diagnostics and clinical trial models required to improve sepsis therapy, according to ESA.
The sepsis specialists target the immunosuppressive phase of the life-threatening infection, which is characterised by interplay of host pro- and anti-inflammatory processes often leading to organ dysfunction.
ESA-ITN coordinator, Joost Wiersinga, a sepsis expert at the Center for Experimental Molecular Medicine within the University of Amsterdam and a member of the executive committee of ESCMID´s study group on bloodstream infection and sepsis, said: “Sepsis can be considered a race to the death between the pathogens and the host immune system.
“Our key priorities are that trainees can recognise the condition as such and identify the stage of disease as well as the source and type of infection in order to initiate a targeted treatment as early as possible.”
To this end ESA said it offers a spectrum of courses and training opportunities at different levels, yet ESA-ITN primarily focuses on pathogenesis, discovery and development.
The ESA is an international project founded at the initiative of organisations including the International Sepsis Forum (ISF), the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM).