Thank you to all Members who joined us for the ASPHER Deans' & Directors' Retreat in Berlin from 25-28 June! We hope you enjoyed it, found it informative and made some new connections. We had over 160 individuals registered from 35 countries! This is the kind of engagement we love to see to make a real impact through ASPHER!

We trust everyone joins us in sending tremendous thanks to the hosting school, Berlin School of Public Health for their welcome and organisation. We all learned a lot with fun and good cheer along the way!

While in Berlin, we welcomed new member institutions (full and associate): Bar-Ilan University and the College of Law and Business Health Management Program from Israel; the Polytechnic of Milan WHO Collaborating Centre for Design & Health, Italy; Central Queensland University, Australia; and University of Memphis, United States. The General Assembly also voted on the next President, Mary Codd, University College Dublin, Ireland elected for 2026-2028; and Nadav Davidovitch, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel has been proposed for 2028-2030. New Executive Board Members were voted as well, with Polychronis Kostoulas, University of Thessaly, Greece; Oleg Lozan, Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Moldova; and Judit Simon, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Congratulations to all of you!

We are thrilled to congratulate the 2025 ASPHER Awardees! Most especially to the 2025 Andrija Stampar Medalist, Prof. Reinhard Busse of the Berlin University of Technology, BSPH; ASPHER Teaching & Practice Excellence Award: Department of Public Health & Social Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk; ASPHER Research Excellence Award: Prof. Oliver Razum; and ASPHER Early Career Excellence Awards: Dr Rami H. Al-Rifai, Dr Beate Jahn, Dr Jwenish Kumawat, Dr Pier Mario Perrone & Dr Anna Tyranska-Fobke. The excellence and dedication to Public Health demonstrated by our awardees are an inspiration to all of us!

Partner representation was strong in Berlin with the ASPHER-EUPHA MoU as a highlight bringing together the key academic and practice communities for public health in Europe to work hand-in-hand. Berlin saw the handover of the GNAPH presidency. ASPPH's Laura Magaña who has been dedicated to launching GNAPH off the ground turned the leadership over to ASPHER's John Middleton to embark on the next chapter; and the signing of the GNAPH MoU with WHO headquarters, united SPHs and WHO on a global scale. Meanwhile, ASPHER is continuing strong bilateral collaboration with ASPPH on the timely topic of Public Health Diplomacy. The Retreat included several successful sessions organised with WHO Europe, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and IANPHI and with contributions from NBPHE, WADEM, ECHO and IOM! Importantly for the ASPHER agenda, both APHEA and the society journal PHR were present throughout the event and programme to engage with the Membership. We are truly stronger when we come to the table to work together and speak with shared voices!

Looking forward, we plan to have the ASPHER 2030 Strategy draft ready for EPH Conference in Helsinki. We have already heard from over 80 ASPHER member institutions in response to our Member consultation – thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond! The consultation was meant to wrap up at the Retreat, but we still want to take advantage of the momentum and the summer break to hear from even more! If you haven't already filled the consultation, please do so here by the end of July – it shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes: https://forms.gle/TMfHd55v2azaJ7s49 

As pillars of the current Presidency Agenda, ASPHER President Henrique Barros is working to put together two major works: a public health history book; and a public health dictionary. Please contact Henrique if interested to contribute your country or local perspectives: henrique.barros@ispup.up.pt.

And before we arrive in Helsinki, ASPHER is still planning to be present for more events including:

• ASSETS Mentoring Summer School: 22-25 July, Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Zagreb Croatia;
• World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race & Health: 02-05 September, NOVA University, Lisbon, Portugal;
• European Health Forum Gastein: 30 September – 03 October, Bad Hofgastein, Austria;
• Planetary Health Annual Meeting: 07-10 October, Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Rotterdam, Netherlands;
• Contact us if you have an event that should not be missed!

While for next year, please get ready for a truly singular Deans' & Directors' Retreat in Milan, Italy to celebrate ASPHER's 60th anniversary! Save the dates now so you do not miss out form 15-18 July 2026! Apart from Milan, next year's highlight will be the World Congress on Public Health: 06-09 September in Cape Town, South Africa.

Email us to learn more about any ASPHER activities or to tell us about what you are up to. And be sure to register for your individual account to the new ASPHER website. The site will be updated with material from the Retreat and enhanced as a result of the Berlin hackathon to be ready for the start of the new academic year in September!

Finally, we wish all ASPHER Members a wonderful and relaxing summer! Please be in touch as needed while taking time to recharge for Autumn!

Best wishes,
ASPHER Secretariat