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European Bronchiectasis Workshop
Respiratory Tract Infections
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Travelling to the UK (ETA or visa)

Visitors travelling to the UK may require an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter the country for up to 6 months. The ETA is a digital travel permit that must be applied for online before arrival. It is quick to obtain and is linked electronically to your passport. We encourage attendees to check their eligibility and requirements for the ETA on the official UK government website, in advance of the Forum.

An ETA costs £20. Other websites may charge more to apply, so avoid websites that imitate government services.

Whether you are eligible to apply for an ETA depends on the nationality shown on your passport:

  • You usually need an ETA rather than a visa if you’re from Europe, the USA, Australia, Canada or certain other countries.
  • Other nationalities cannot get an ETA and they need a UK visa.

Check if you need an ETA or visa to come to the UK.

Conference invitation letters for visa applications

The Organising Secretariat can provide a Letter of Invitation to assist with your visa application. Please note the following:

  • Payment Requirement: Letters will only be issued after full payment of conference registration fees has been confirmed.
  • Processing Time: Please allow 5–7 business days for the Secretariat to process your request.
  • No Guarantee: An invitation letter does not guarantee a visa grant; the final decision rests solely with the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
  • Scope of Assistance: The Organising Secretariat will not be able to help you with the visa procedure itself. Each participant is responsible for contacting his/her embassy. The Secretariat cannot contact embassies on behalf of participants or intervene in the adjudication process.

Important notes & policies

  • Processing Time: Standard UK visa processing generally takes around 3 weeks (15 working days) after your biometric appointment and submission of all required documents. However, processing times may vary depending on the type of visa and the volume of applications.

We strongly recommend starting the visa application process at least 60 days before your intended departure date to allow sufficient time for appointment availability, document preparation, and any additional requests from the UK visa authorities.

  • Visa Rejections: In the event of a visa denial, the conference refund policy will apply. You will be required to submit an official notice of refusal from the Embassy. Please contact the Organising Secretariat at the following email address: info@bronchiectasi-rti.org
  • Fraud Prevention: The Secretariat reserves the right to refuse invitation letters to any individual suspected of providing false information or misusing conference documents.
  • For the most accurate and up-to-date information on UK entry requirements and visa procedures, please refer to the official UK Government website: Check if you need a UK visa

For more information regarding ETA and visa application, please visit the UK government website.

Scientific Committee member 4
Member · EBROW Scientific Committee

Michal Shteinberg

Carmel Medical Center and the Technion, Haifa

Michal Shteinberg is heading the bronchiectasis and adult CF service in the Pulmonology institute and CF center, Carmel medical center, Haifa, Israel. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of medicine at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Her main research interests are bronchiectasis and its overlap with other airway diseases, and adult CF.

Scientific Committee member 5
Member · EBROW Scientific Committee

Oriol Sibila

Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Spain

Head of the Pulmonology Service at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and accredited researcher in the IDIBAPS group Inflammation and Repair in Respiratory Diseases. His work focuses on airway infection, inflammation and bronchiectasis, including frequent-exacerbator phenotypes in the EMBARC registry.

He coordinates educational programmes on bronchiectasis at Hospital Clínic and publishes widely on mucins, inhaled therapies and treatable traits in chronic airway disease.

Scientific Committee member 2
Member · EBROW Scientific Committee

Natalie Lorent

University Hospital Leuven, Belgium

Natalie Lorent works as a consultant in Respiratory Medicine/Clinical Infectiology at the University Hospital Leuven where since 2015 she coordinates the care for adults with respiratory infections, bronchiectasis (CF and non-CF) and primary ciliary dyskinesia. She is involved in clinical and translational research in bronchiectasis and mycobacterial infections.

She is founder and president of the national NTM Consilium, a clinical advisory board and basis of a national registry; she chairs the European NTM research network (NTMnet) and the Belgian MDRTB expert group. She has been involved in EMBARC since the start. Natalie is also assistant professor at KU Leuven.

Scientific Committee member 3
Member · EBROW Scientific Committee

Felix C. Ringshausen

Hannover Medical School (MHH) and German Center for Lung Research

Felix C. Ringshausen is a board-certified physician for respiratory medicine and infectious diseases and head of the Adult Bronchiectasis and Cystic Fibrosis Service at the Hannover Medical School, Germany. In addition, he is principal investigator of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL).

His research interests are focused on European multidisciplinary networks and multicenter initiatives in order to promote clinically orientated research and improve patient care in the field of rare, neglected and under-researched aspects of respiratory infections like bronchiectasis, nontuberculous mycobacteria, respiratory viruses and adult cystic fibrosis.

Scientific Committee member 1
Member · EBROW Scientific Committee

Stefano Aliberti

Humanitas University, Italy

Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy. Consultant, Respiratory Unit and Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan.

Co-chair of the European Bronchiectasis Network (EMBARC). Chair of IRIDE, the Italian Registry of adult bronchiectasis. Chair of the Italian Registry on Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (IRENE).

Michael Loebinger
Co-chair · EBROW Organising Committee

Michael Loebinger

Royal Brompton Hospital · Imperial College London

Professor Michael Loebinger is Professor of Practice at Imperial College London and Director of the Lung Division and Deputy Medical Director at Royal Brompton Hospital. He co-chaired the British Thoracic Society bronchiectasis guidelines and co-wrote the BTS Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria and European Respiratory Society bronchiectasis guidelines.

He is a founding member of the UK and European clinical and research bronchiectasis and NTM networks and has authored over 200 publications. He has helped design and lead multiple global clinical trials in bronchiectasis and NTM and was chief investigator for the first mRNA trials in primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Charles Haworth
Co-chair · EBROW Organising Committee

Charles Haworth

Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Charles Haworth is a Respiratory Consultant working within the Cambridge Centre for Lung Infection at Royal Papworth Hospital where he specialises in treating adults with bronchiectasis, non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections and cystic fibrosis.

He co-authored the British Thoracic Society Bronchiectasis clinical guidelines published in 2017 and the European Respiratory Society Bronchiectasis clinical guidelines published in 2019.

He was also senior author of the International Cystic Fibrosis NTM guidelines published in 2015 and first author of the British Thoracic Society NTM guidelines published in 2017.

From 2018 to 2021, he was a founding and executive committee member of the UK Cystic Fibrosis Medical Association.

In June 2024 he was invited to join the Board of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society.

James D. Chalmers
Co-chair · EBROW Organising Committee

James D. Chalmers

University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Rhodes Chair of Experimental Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Oxford.

Chief Editor of the European Respiratory Journal.

Chair of the European Bronchiectasis Network (EMBARC).

Chair of the Standards of Care Committee of the British Thoracic Society.