As autumn 2025 has arrived, the EU-ROP project continues to grow steadily. Thanks to the ongoing commitment and excellent collaboration of all participating centers across Europe, we have reached an exciting new milestone: 900 patients entered into the EU-ROP registry as of October 2025!

We are delighted to announce that Anastasiia Andriivna Pieshkova from Odessa, Ukraine, has enrolled the 900th patient in the study. Congratulations!

A heartfelt Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this achievement through your continuous efforts and dedication to improving the understanding and care of ROP.

The 6th World ROP Congress will be held from 4 to 7 December in Florence, Italy, featuring an exciting scientific program! The preliminary program is already available, and registration is open at worldropcongress2025.com

We are proud to share that four abstracts based on data from the EU-ROP registry have been submitted, showcasing the breadth of data and international collaboration within our network:

1. Real-world data on retinopathy of prematurity requiring treatment – the first 651 treated patients from the EU-ROP registry
2. Different treatment patterns in anti-VEGF therapy – a multicenter comparison across Europe
3. ROP in Germany and Turkey – a comparative analysis of registry data
4. ROP differences between Germany and Poland, two countries with comparable neonatal care quality

We also plan to hold our first in-person international EU-ROP study group meeting and look forward to meeting many EU-ROP investigators in Florence. We are very excited about this global event and the opportunity to present EU-ROP’s growing contribution to international ROP research.

We are very happy to welcome Kathrin Gerber as a new student assistant to the EU-ROP coordination team!

Kathrin recently joined the project and will support us in various administrative and research-related tasks. She is currently studying medicine at the University of Greifswald and strengthens the team with fresh motivation and meticulous work.

Within the EU-ROP framework, Kathrin will assist with data management, communication with participating centers, and the preparation of materials for ongoing analyses and meetings. She will also accompany the EU-ROP team to conferences, supporting the presentation of project results and helping to connect with colleagues across Europe.

We are delighted to have her on board and are looking forward to working together on the continued development of the EU-ROP project!

On 17 November, we join the global community in marking World Prematurity Day (WPD) and raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by premature babies and their families.

This year’s theme, “Give Preterm Babies a Strong Start for a Brighter Future”, reminds us that a strong start includes protecting every aspect of a baby’s health — including their vision. Early detection and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can make a crucial difference for a child’s future.

Join us in spreading awareness by using the awareness toolkit, provided by EFCNI the founder of World Prematurity Day. You can, for example, add a World Prematurity Day picture to your email signature to show your support.

https://trello.com/b/grJQcVAj/world-prematurity-day-social-media-toolkit