CRS Welcome Note

Dear CRS members, Dear colleagues and friends,

We sincerely hope you are doing well. And we would like to thank you for having signed up to participate in our virtual CRS Local Chapters meeting.

In 2019, we had great plans for an on-site meeting in Aachen in 2021. To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the CRS Germany Chapter,

and joining forces with the new and very successful CRS BeNeLux & France Chapter, for which this could have served as the inauguration event. We planned to do a meeting for 3 days, instead of the usual 2 days, with 100+ drug delivery specialists present on-site, and with a number of high-end invited lectures, special sessions and engaging evening events. But then there was COVID, and then we had to rethink everything.

Because it became rapidly clear that a full-size on-site meeting would be impossible, we first thought of doing a hybrid event.

With 40 to 50 people physically present on-site in Aachen, and with everybody else joining in via Zoom or Teams or any of the other video-conferencing tools we have all become very acquainted with in 2020. But alas. Because of the relentlessly high infections rates,

also that turned out to be impossible.

We ended up embracing the notion that only a virtual LC meeting would be possible. And we gradually realized that there was actually a possibility of turning this difficulty into opportunity. We now probably have many more abstracts and participants (and countries involved) than we would have had at an in-person meeting. We will have 3 outstanding invited lectures from eminent scientists in the field, 11 oral presentations based on abstracts, and almost 60 flash talk presentations. There will be multiple recognitions, including awards for the best oral talks, and public vote prizes for the best flash presentations. The 5 best oral talks will win CRS membership plus registration for the 2021 main CRS Virtual Annual Meeting, which will take place from July 25^th until July 29th, and which will certainly be great.

Last but not least, please make note of the virtual coffee break, which will be held from 15:15-16:00. Via random Zoom breakout rooms

(3 sessions of 15 minutes; 6-8 participants per room), this will provide ample opportunity for networking, for seeing old friends, and for getting to know new people, junior and Senior, and many different nationalities. Make sure to be there!

Thanking you very much for having signed up and participating in our meeting, wishing you an enjoyable and successful event, and looking forward to seeing you in the virtual coffee break. Kindest regards, on behalf of the whole organizing committee,

Twan Lammers