2020PMD, 30-years of Translational Mobility Medicine at the time of COVID-19 outbreak: Last-minute forewords from the editor

Abstract

In the autumn of 2019, the organizers of the 2020 Padua Muscle Days planned an intense program, which was to be held from March 18 to March 21, 2020. The program included eight Scientific Sessions to occur over three full days at either Padova University or the Hotel Augustus on Euganei Hills (Padova), Italy. Abruptly, however, in early January the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak started in China and changed the world perspectives and expectations. In Italy, it started in Lombardy and Veneto, two main industrial areas of the country with intense connections and interchanges of people and commercial activities with China. Indeed, the virus was first isolated from a couple of Chinese tourists, who inadvertently incubated the infection during their visit to many towns in Italy. Within the following two weeks, the epidemic had the first Italian cases and victims in an area south of Milan and in a Village of the Euganei Hills (Vo Euganeo, Padova). The village was immediately quarantined, but it was too late. The virus had escaped the area. Thus, it was a mandatory, though difficult decision (made even before the Italian National Government posted rules to be followed to decrease spread of the infection), to post-pone the Padua Muscle Days meeting from 18-21 March, 2020 to 25-28 November, 2020. Luckily, the vast majority of organizers, chairs, speakers, and attendees accepted the decision and have assured their presence in late November, despite the coincidence with the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. Currently, the only changes in the program are the new dates; however, it is difficult to forecast the future. Anyhow, the rationale of the decision to post-pone 2020PMD was reinforced by the actions of many organizers of international events. One of the most recent examples is the March 6, 2020 decision of the leaders of the Experimental Biology Host Societies to cancel Experimental Biology (EB) 2020, set to take place April 4–7 in San Diego, California, USA. All these active civil responses to world dangers are mandatory to avoid those military responses that are easy to start, but provide the worst results. How do we not lose half of the 2020 year? The option is to try to achieve some of the goals of the meeting by long-distance communications. Thus, the Collection of Abstracts will be, as originally planned, e-published in this 30(1) 2020 Issue of the European Journal of Translational Myology (EJTM) together with the many EJTM Communications submitted by speakers and attendees of the 2020PMD. We may also start the process that will implement EMMA, the European Mobility Medicine Association, by circulating a proposal and inviting comments.