AndrologyVolume 10, Issue S2 p. 116-117 SUPPLEMENT ARTICLEFree Access European Academy of Andrology: Collaboration with other societies and organisations First published: 10 October 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13250AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Andrology is a complex discipline covering many different aspects of male reproductive and general health, hence, the European Academy of Andrology (EAA) is a society composed of specialists in endocrinology, urology, sexual medicine, paediatrics, gynaecology, fertility management, genetics, pathology, reproductive biology, and many others. These specialists often belong to one or more other academic societies or organisations, depending on the stage of their career development. It is, therefore, essential that EAA maintains collaboration with the societies having overlapping profiles and related research interest. Here, the main partners of EAA are briefly summarised. 1 INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ANDROLOGY (ISA) ISA (www.andrology.org) was founded in 1981 and is an umbrella organisation, bringing together around 30 national and regional member societies, including the EAA. The main mission of ISA is to disseminate knowledge and promote research in andrology, which overlaps with the objectives of EAA. ISA organises an international congress every 4 years, and regularly provides travel grants for young andrologists and scientists to participate in andrology meetings, including the European Congresses of Andrology. Many of the ISA presidents (E. Nieschlag, I. Huhtaniemi, C. Wang, A. Meinhardt) and officers (F. Wu, H. Behre, C. Krausz, Replace; with a comma) S. Schlatt, A. Isidori, D. Goulis, G. Corona) are Academicians, underlying the leading role of the EAA. 2 EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF UROLOGY, SECTION OF ANDROLOGICAL UROLOGY (ESAU) The European Association of Urology (EAU) contains a special section dedicated to andrological urology (ESAU) (uroweb.org/sections/eau-section-of-andrological-urology). A close collaboration between the EAA and the ESAU started in 2008 during EAA presidency of Prof. F. Wu, when the ESAU was chaired by Prof. W. Weidner. The EAA and ESAU jointly established “EAA Clinical Andrologist” training curriculum. Since that time, the two organizations have organized several EAA/ESAU educational courses during European Congresses of Andrology (ECA2012 Berlin, ECA2014 Barcelona, ECA2016 Rotterdam, and ECA2018 Budapest). The first ESAU/EAA Joint Symposium chaired by Professors W. Weidner and C. Krausz, was organized in Munich (2016) during the annual EAU congress. A second edition of this joint activity was held at the EAU congress in Amsterdam (2022) under the guidance of Prof N. Sofikitis (current ESAU chair). Several EAA Academicians are members of the current Board of ESAU. 3 EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF ENDOCRINOLOGY (ESE) ESE (www.ese-hormones.org/) is a learned society for healthcare providers and researchers within the field of endocrinology. Established in 2006, ESE aims primarily to implement and facilitate programmes that directly benefit the endocrine field and those within it, ultimately to improve the care provided to patients with hormonal disorders. These programmes include the development of educational events, publication of journals and clinical practice guidelines, and organization of collaborative projects between organisations. In 2016, the EAA and ESE presidents have signed a “Memorandum of Understanding,” according to which the EAA became the official educational partner of the ESE in the field of andrology. The first EAA course for endocrinologists took place in Lisbon at ECE2017. The first EAA/ESE symposium was held in Barcelona at ECE2018. The two organizations continued with “Andrology Courses for Endocrinologists” at ECE on a regular basis, including in 2019 (Lyon) and 2022 (Milan). In the alternating years, EAA organizes andrology symposia during ECE; the most recent one on clinical guidelines on male-specific endocrine conditions was held online during the virtual eECE2021. In addition, since 2018, prominent endocrinologists and active ESE members are invited to present ESE/EAA lecture at the European Congress of Andrology (ECA). The recipients of this distinction were: Manuela Simoni (ECA2018), Manuel Tena-Sempere (eECA2020), and Anders Juul (ECA2022). The faculty of the pre-congress EAA course “Clinical andrology for endocrinologists” at ECE2022 (Milan), from left to right L. Antonio; M. Bonomi, D. Goulis, C. Krausz, G. Corona 4 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANDROLOGY (ASA) The American Society of Andrology (andrologysociety.org/) was founded in 1975 and it represents the sister andrology society of the EAA. The majority of ASA members are from the Northern and Southern America but the Society has a worldwide reach. The relationship between the two societies started with the EAA/ASA exchange lectures held every second year. The latest presenters of these lectures were Rafael Oliva (EAA) at the ASA 2022 Meeting in La Jolla, California, and Wei Yan (ASA) at the ECA2022 in Barcelona. Since the merger of International Journal of Andrology and Journal of Andrology into our joint journal “Andrology” the collaboration between the two societies has further strengthened. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed, defining the conditions of the journal's governance and the rules of financing the annual Andrology Award. Since 2021, the ASA and the EAA have begun organizing joint educational activities, such as webinars, with the participation of scientists from both societies. 5 NETWORK FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ANDROLOGY (NYRA) The Network for Young Researchers in Andrology (previously called International Network for Young Researchers in Male Fertility) (https://nyra-youngresearch.eu/) was founded in April 2006 during the 14th European Testis Workshop in Bavaria, Germany. The mission of NYRA is to assist young scientists interested in testis research in achieving their goals, through global networks among young (early stage) scientists and to promote cooperation and mutual exchange of methodologies and expertise. Since 2008, the EAA has become one of the main supporters of NYRA and provided financial help for several annual NYRA meetings and the biennial NYRA Symposium held at the European Congress of Andrology (ECA). Some of NYRA alumni reached prominent positions at the EAA Council and Committees, and increasing numbers of NYRA members are joining EAA. 6 EUROPEAN MOLECULAR GENETICS QUALITY NETWORK (EMQN) There is a strong representation of scientists interested in the genetics of male infertility and other andrological disorders among the EAA academicians active in several EAA-accredited centres. Deletions within the azoospermia region of the Y chromosome (AZF region) are among the most frequent molecular genetic causes of impaired spermatogenesis, and the testing for this genetic aberration has become part of the routine andrology diagnostic workup. In the early days, the quality of the AZF tests in European labs varied wildly, aggravated by the availability of substandard commercial kits, and diagnostic errors were not uncommon. Hence, the EAA pushed for setting up an international external quality control scheme for the AZF test. The natural place to collaborate with was the European Molecular Genetics Quality Network (EMQN), a provider of External Quality Assessment (EQA) services in molecular genetics and molecular testing. The EAA has started a collaboration with this organization since its foundation in 1999. Together, the EAA and EMQN organized the EQA for the AZF scheme for over 140 laboratories all over the world. The previous and current scheme organizers are EAA Academicians; Manuela Simoni (1999–2012), Csilla Krausz (from 1999 onward), and Frank Tüttelmann (from 2012 onward). The collaborating organizations elaborated detailed laboratory protocols. The first EAA/EMQN best practice guidelines for molecular diagnosis of Y-chromosomal microdeletions testing were published in 2004,1 and this excellent article became a very popular reference for many labs. After a discovery of partial AZFc deletions, a thoroughly updated guidelines were published online in 2013, appearing in print in 2014.2 REFERENCES 1Simoni M, Bakker E, Krausz C. EAA/EMQN best practice guidelines for molecular diagnosis of Y-chromosomal microdeletions. State of the art 2004. Int J Androl. 2004; 27(4): 240- 249. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2605.2004.00495.x 2Krausz C, Hoefsloot L, Simoni M, Tüttelmann F. European Academy of Andrology; European Molecular Genetics Quality Network. EAA/EMQN best practice guidelines for molecular diagnosis of Y-chromosomal microdeletions: state-of-the-art 2013. Andrology. 2014; 2(1): 5- 19. doi: 10.1111/j.2047-2927.2013.00173.x Volume10, IssueS2Special Issue: 30 Years of Promoting Education and Knowledge in AndrologyOctober 2022Pages 116-117 ReferencesRelatedInformation