Regulations of the Diabetic Foot Study Group

The aim of the Diabetic Foot Study Group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes is to promote an advancement of knowledge on all aspects of diabetic foot care through active co-operation and collaboration between diabetologists, podiatrists, specialist nurses, orthopaedic and vascular surgeons and all other specialists with an interest in caring for diabetic patients with foot problems. The main aim will be to bring together researchers working in this field through exchanges of experiences in research and clinical practice during regular meetings. In addition, the DFSG may also work actively for the promotion of European collaborative studies and also act as a reference group for the EASD in matters relating to foot problems, amputations, etc.

In addition to the founding group, membership in the DFSG is open to all members of the EASD who submit, and have accepted, abstracts that are presented during the Annual Meeting of the Group. Members must attend one meeting every three years or will automatically lose their membership.

The members of the Group will elect, amongst themselves during the business meeting by democratic process of all those members present, the Officers of the Executive Committee.

These will consist of a Chairperson (3 years), Vice-Chairperson (3 years), Secretary (4 years) and Treasurer (4) years and normally 4 additional Executive Committee Members (3 years).

Members of the Committee are re-electable but should not serve for more than two consecutive terms. DFSG will normally ensure that no more than two or three committee members will retire in any one year. Ideally new officers should spend a year on the Committee in an adjunct position (e.g. adjunct Chairperson) prior to taking office. A sub-group of the Executive Committee, including the Chairperson, will decide upon the structure of the Annual Meeting of the Group, final programme selection, including the judging of abstracts. Each Member of the Committee has one vote and, if necessary, the Chairperson has a casting vote.

The Group shall normally meet on an annual basis for a scientific and business meeting which will normally take part either before or after the main meeting of the EASD. However, in those years when there is an international diabetic foot conference in Noordwijkerhout, Holland the Diabetic Foot Study Group will not normally meet. The meetings will be announced in the EASD pages of the journal Diabetologia and on the Study Group website www.dfsg.org All abstracts selected for oral or poster presentation will be published in a booklet available at the time of the meeting.

In addition to the regular meeting the DFSG may organise seminars, workshops and other meetings, possibly in conjunction with other EASD working groups. In this regard the DFSG has been set up with the full approval of both the NeuroDiab (Neuropathy Working Group) and DESG (Diabetes Education Study Group). The annual meeting of the DFSG will, if at all possible, be arranged so that clashes with the other two study groups just mentioned do not occur.

The DFSG will submit annually to the EASD a written report of activities for inclusion amongst the EASD pages of Diabetologia. It is expected that at least one member of the DFSG Executive Committee will attend the annual EASD General Assembly.

Financial support for the regular meetings and other activities will be sought from pharmaceutical companies but if financial difficulties arise, the organisers may charge a registration fee from the participants for annual meetings. Financial support will be used for accommodation and meals during the annual meeting and some travel expenses may be given as travel grants for selected members who have abstracts accepted and need financial support.

These bylaws were originally approved by the EASD at the 1st meeting of the Diabetic Foot Study Group held in Barcelona on 12. September 1998 and minor alterations, included in this version, were approved by a quorate Annual General Meeting held in Fiuggi, Italy on 17. September 2000. Revised on 4. September 2004 at the AGM held in Regensburg, Germany.

A.J.M. Boulton, Manchester, UK, Revised Regensburg September 2004