You will officially take over the presidency of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) in September 2011 with the support of the newly elected Executive Board whose names were announced yesterday during the EAPCI General Assembly as a result of the elections for the positions of President-Elect， Secretary and Treasurer. What are your priorities for the Association?
I will take over the presidency of EAPCI during the ESC congress to be held in Paris early September， 2011.
I’ll have the immense pleasure and honour to work with a very experienced Board that has recently been elected for the next two years: Stephan Windecker as President-elect， Georges Sianos as Secretary and Marie-Claude Morice as Treasurer.
Before outlining the priorities of the association during my presidency， I would like to personally thank William Wijns for his tremendous work since the creation of the association in 2006. He built the foundations and structure of this young and brilliant association. Carlo Di Mario also brought his personal touch to developing association activities.
During my presidency， we will focus on 3 major objectives:
The first is to increase the visibility and membership of EAPCI with the aim of becoming the largest and most dynamic association of the ESC family. This will only be possible with involvement and participation from the National Working Groups members. We will further develop networking and offer members of National Societies and Working Groups a way to take part in more activities.
The second objective will be to strengthen the link between EAPCI， EuroPCR and ESC. I want to reinforce the relationship and communication between EAPCI and EuroPCR by stimulating the participation of EAPCI members in EuroPCR activities and in other meetings of the PCR family. I want to reinforce the link between EAPCI and ESC with， for instance， active participation of EAPCI in the interventional cardiology programme of the ESC congress. EAPCI is the natural link between EuroPCR and ESC. We must develop a close collaboration based on trust and a ‘win-win’ spirit to reach an optimal synergy between the three entities. EAPCI should be proud to be part of the ESC family and ESC should be proud to have EAPCI as one of its most active associations.
The third objective is to continue to develop the different activities of the association in the field of Education and Information. We need the support of all cardiologists from the different National Working Groups. Their input is vital to bring our websites to life， to make EuroIntervention the best interventional cardiology journal and to develop different educational tools (textbooks， online learning tools， guidelines， seminars， meetings). We will work with Stephan to initiate a Clinical Trial Unit by establishing a platform for European clinical scientists in the field of interventional cardiology.
Finally， I’ll work to further the development of the Stent for Life initiative. Again， I would like to thank William Wijns， Petr Widimsky， and Steen Dalby Kristensen for their involvement in the initiative as well as Zuzana for her continuous and excellent dedication to this project.
Over the next two years， I’ll have the huge honour and responsibility of leading the association. My vision for the future of EAPCI is not just a two-year vision but more a four/five-year vision that I could share and implement with Stephan Windecker.
选自《EuroPCR每日新闻》