VERA–EAST Kick-off Meeting

From 26 to 28 May 2026, our Director, Prof. Andrei D. Mihalca, hosted and participated in the kick-off meeting of VERA–EAST – Risk Assessments in Vector-Borne Diseases in Eastern Europe, held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The meeting brought together 19 participants from eight countries and marked the official start of this international collaboration funded by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) under the initiative Joint programming for risk assessments in vector-borne diseases – Lot 4: Risk Assessments in Eastern EU.

The three-day meeting focused on establishing the scientific and operational framework of the project, including consortium governance, coordination between work packages, allocation of responsibilities and the development of a common roadmap. Particular attention was given to priority vector-borne disease topics and to the identification of knowledge and data gaps relevant to risk assessment in Eastern Europe.

Within VERA–EAST, Prof. Mihalca contributes to the scientific activities, project coordination, communication, knowledge exchange and the identification of data and research gaps relevant to vector-borne disease risk assessment.

The Cluj-Napoca meeting provided the foundation for a regional network bringing together expertise in veterinary medicine, epidemiology, vector biology, infectious diseases and risk assessment.