Dear Friends, and dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the the European Pancreatic Club/ EPC it is a great honor for me to welcome you to the wonderful and breathtaking city of Istanbul for the joint EPC/AP Meeting 2026. In Istanbul not only Europe gets united with Asia but Istanbul also welcomes the entire World. For that reason it is just the perfect city to held a joint meeting with the International Association of Pancreatology/IAP to unify Europe and the rest of the World for our beloved pancreas. It is not only important to meet all together, but also to built a platform where we all can collaborate and actively work in a joint manner for our patients with pancreatic diseases. In this dimension, it is not only important to unify the knowledge of pancreatologists from all over the world but also to do this in a multidisciplinary fashion.

In these times, there is no single pancreatic disease, which can be perfectly treated by one medical discipline only. It is the specialised team which matters and gives our patients the best therapy they need. Neither a single good gastroenterologist, an oncologist, an interventional radiologist, a radiation oncologist or a surgeon can stand alone in the complex modern treatment tracks we have established for pancreatic diseases nowadays. In this context, we should also not forget the importance of our specialized nurses who are taking care for our patients. Therefore our joint meeting 2026 will highlight and once more underline why multidisciplinary approach is the only key to success in pancreatology.

Pancreatology can only develop through joint academic research, multinational networking, successful publishing and establishing of evidence based medicine guidelines and therapy strategies. In this matter we also need strongly our colleagues from basic science who help us to develop and understand the pathogenesis of the diseases we are dealing with. We should not forget that basic science is crucial to master the pathophysiology, the course and also novel therapeutic approaches in pancreatic diseases. For that reasons basic science will play a major role at the EPC/IAP joint meeting in Istanbul 2026.

For that reason my friends and colleagues, let us all from all over the world meet in İstanbul 2026 to gather our knowledge, academic efforts and our fight against pancreatic diseases for the benefit of our patients.

See you in June 2026 in Istanbul, in the city where the world meets!

EPC Başkanı 2026: Güralp Onur Ceyhan, MD, Profesör
IAP Başkanı 2026: Vinciane Rebours, MD, Profesör