3 October 2019: 

IMS Collaboration with the 11th International Congress on Menopause and Gynecological Endocrinology
Beijing, China, September 6th - 8th 2019

IMS current Board Member Professor Xiangyan Ruan and past Board Member Professor Alfred O.Mueck recently chaired the "11th International Congress on Menopause and Gynecological Endocrinology" in Beijing from September 6th - 8th, 2019. The congress was sponsored by the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University in collaboration with the following societies: International Menopause Society (IMS), International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology (ISGE), Chinese Society of Gynecological Endocrinology affiliated to ISGE (CSGE), European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS), European Society of Gynecology (ESG), International Academy of Human Reproduction, Chinese-German Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, German Menopause Society, German Society of Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, German Society of Endoscopy, German Society of Endometriosis, European Society of Endometriosis, Osteoporosis Society of China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (OSCAGG) and Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Society of Endocrinology.

Twenty-three speakers from all over the world attended this congress with an audience of 500 participants. Most of the members of the audience were experts in the field of Gynecological Endocrinology in large hospitals coming from the Beijing Region and from all over China. The event was considered the highest-ranking international congress in China to date in this field of medicine. Eight international speakers are presently visiting professors at the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, China. During the Congress, there were outstanding lectures from the Chinese speakers on special diseases like PCOS, POI, endometriosis and hyperprolactinemia, bleeding problems (AUB), endometrial abnormalities, sexual disorders, pregnancy and offspring health, ART, diagnosis, and treatment of fertility problems. There were several lectures from Chinese and international experts on fertility preservation, especially ovarian cryopreservation, a technique that was implemented in China for the first time by the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. 

The following lectures were presented by current members of the IMS:

• "IMS Guidelines for Menopausal H Professor Ruan’s team for their ongoing effort in translating abstracts into Chinese for CLIMACTERIC. This has encouraged submissions on behalf of Chinese researchers to the journal such that, at present 21% of the papers are published by Chinese scholars.

• ormone Therapy" by current IMS President Professor Susan Davis  

• "Treatment Options for Vaginal Atrophy" by IMS Past President Professor Andrea Riccardo Genazzani

• "POI: Cancer Survivorship - Mitigating (reducing) the Consequences of Iatrogenic POI" by IMS General Secretary and Past Editor-in-Chief of CLIMACTERIC, Professor Nick Panay

• "The different methods of fertility protection in cancer patients" by Professor Sven Skouby  

• "IMS IMPART", a presentation of the IMS internet-based educational program for students and doctors, by Professor Rod Baber, Immediate Past President of IMS and Editor in Chief of the SCI-journal CLIMACTERIC 

• "Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis in Peri-and Postmenopausal women" and "Tibolone as Special Option for Treatment of Postmenopausal Patients" by past IMS Board Member and current ISGE Treasurer, Professor Martin Birkhaeuser 

• "Management of PCOS" and "The first Chinese POI database cooperated with the Royal College and prevention and treatment of iatrogenic POI: the first Chinese guideline on ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation"  by Professor Xiangyan Ruan 

• "Breast cancer and MHT", a presentation discussing the carcinogenic mechanism in breast cancer development based on experimental data and clinical data, including that of the very recent publication in The Lancet, by Professor Alfred O. Mueck.

• A number of other excellent lectures were delivered, including that of Professor Thomas Rabe on "Amenorrhoea - etiology, diagnosis, and therapy". Professor Rabe is well known and appreciated in China because his ancestry; his grandfather, John Rabe, saved thousands of Chinese during the Second World War from the Japanese Nanjing Massacre.

All lectures were well received by enthusiastic audiences.

A special IMS meeting was held, during which IMS experts and participants discussed three hot topics:

1. MHT and breast cancer risk;
2. Can ovarian tissue cryopreservation delay the menopause by 20 years?
3. Do women need androgen therapy?

Thereafter, President Professor Susan Davis invited Chinese researchers and doctors to attend the "17th World Congress on Menopause" to be held on April 30th, 2020, in Melbourne. She also introduced the IMS Greenblatt Award and Travel Award to encourage students and young doctors to participate.

Professor Rod Baber greatly thanked Professor Ruan’s team for their ongoing effort in translating abstracts into Chinese for CLIMACTERIC. This has encouraged submissions on behalf of Chinese researchers to the journal such that, at present 21% of the papers are published by Chinese scholars.

In summary, the congress can be considered a great success for the IMS as well, with the current President and immediate Past President and seven current or past board members as speakers in the main plenary sessions, including current and past Editors-in-Chief of CLIMACTERIC, the official journal of the IMS.

Congratulations were offered to the Chinese team for providing the program and performing all the logistics with competence, vitality, enthusiasm and great hospitality before and during the congress.

The congress has certainly contributed to improving management issues in the fields of Menopause and Gynecological Endocrinology in China.