ESHRE 40^th Annual Meeting Highlights

It was almost 2 years since I was invited to join the Editorial Board. Soon after, I submitted the Editorial “Lessons from India” and subsequently became acquainted with FSR colleagues mainly online but finally face-to-face at Fertivision 2024.

It was a pleasure to once again meet IFS members and other colleagues among the 10,000-plus delegates who attended the recent annual ESHRE meeting in Amsterdam to enjoy the hospitality and access to so many learning events. As important were the opportunities to see and meet colleagues and friends, old and young, in the corridors to chat/network or just to laugh at oft-repeated jokes. I have always been interested to hear about what was presented and debated at the annual meetings that I couldn’t attend and bemused by comments such as “same old stuff,” “nothing new,” etc. This year was different, and since returning home to London, when asked, “ESHRE? anything new?” I decided to write my reply in this editorial.

Having noted the introduction of ESHRE5 Young Ambassadors from Spain, the UK, India, and Portugal in the ESHRE conference announcement brochure, I was prompted to attend presentations by ESHRE5 Young Ambassadors and not just attend the sessions of international experts, the not-so-young, authoritative expert leaders in their field.

During this short session, I was immediately struck by the energy, enthusiasm, and commitment of youth, younger than 35 years of age, addressing matters of global importance in a lucid, pragmatic fashion.

My attendance was rewarded by hearing that the tiny Baltic country of Lithuania was grouped with India as examples of best behaviour with respect to their healthcare footprint relating to carbon emission reduction when compared to other nations, very large (USA, UK, and Canada) and small (Switzerland). Previously, I had considered the only link may be the ancient language of Sanskrit, with Lithuanians arguing that their language is the only surviving one.

The presentation, “Marginal gains: Can small actions in the ART lab improve the environmental impact of medically assisted reproduction?”^[1] was based on an international multicentre collaborative study conducted by a multidisciplinary team, including the presenting Young Ambassador, highlighting the value of collegiate work and ensuring the energy, AI awareness and X (formerly Twitter) usage of one scientific generation with the wisdom based on the experience of the older generation is best realised.

The presenter, a trainee embryology scientist, enjoyably argued that every, even small, change in clinical, laboratory, and logistic procedures can contribute to a reduction of carbon emissions without compromising the quality of patient care, fertility treatment outcomes, or increased costs. A senior co-author attendee,^[2] ready to assist during questions, sat glowing with vicarious pride, especially during question time. A Baltic country attendee applauded his association with the contribution of India once again on the world stage.

It would be interesting to hear the views of IFS members and other colleagues who attended ESHRE 2024 in Amsterdam by writing to the Editor.

The IFS initiatives, such as the Young Empowerment Program, notably the Young Turks journal club, serve to harness the genius and energy of youth as we progress in incorporating Artificial Intelligence and Real Intelligence constructively.