Constitution of EUSTAR group

The European meeting held in Florence (Italy) on December 13-14th 2002, hosted by Professor Marco Matucci-Cerinic, under the auspices of the EULAR Standing Committee on International Clinical Studies Including Therapeutic Trials (ESCISIT), chaired by Prof. P. van Riel, resulted in the formation of the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) group. This was announced officially for the first time at the annual EULAR 2003 congress held in Lisbon, Portugal.

EUSTAR Aims

The main purposes of the EUSTAR group, as they were defined in Florence, are to foster the study and the care of scleroderma and to achieve a consensus on evidence based standards for the management of scleroderma patients throughout Europe. In order to achieve this EUSTAR aims to:

• Foster co-operation between different countries and geographical European areas;
• Encourage and assist the foundation of national organizations;
• Promote educational programs;
• Sponsor or organize international congresses on scleroderma;
• Supervise the scientific activities of all meetings organized with the EUSTAR patronage;
• Encourage the publication of scientific proceedings of such meetings;
• Stimulate scientific research on scleroderma;
• Establish contacts  with all other specialties interested in scleroderma: dermatology, cardiology, respiratory medicine, radiology, vascular medicine, internal medicine, etc.
• Encourage cooperation with other scientific associations in other continents and with patient organizations in Europe and worldwide.