Will Tsang (ST1-3)
BRS President Professor Peter Andrews opened the 2025 Annual Meeting in sunny Edinburgh, welcoming over 180 delegates — a record turnout. The programme was packed with speakers pushing the boundaries of modern rhinology.
Highlights from day one included Professor Amin Javer presenting early results for sinonasal microbiome transplantation in recalcitrant CRS – an approach borrowed from GI medicine that may reshape our view of sinonasal infection and colonisation. The trial results are eagerly awaited. Sean Carrie presented on the NAIROS trial, while Professor Darlene Lubbe and Shaz Ahmed spoke on Transorbital Neuroendoscopic Surgery (TONES). Professor Claire Hopkins gave a compelling review of the evidence (or lack thereof) regarding emergency endoscopic sinus surgery in intracranial complications of acute rhinosinusitis. This highlighted the need for future collaborative research.
Free paper sessions were all well received; congratulations to James Hadley and Sophie Chamberlain on winning the top prize.
An evening drinks reception in the College library, followed by dinner in Playfair Hall and a lively ceilidh, rounded off a successful first day.
The second day opened with Professor Hesham Saleh’s insights into sinonasal vasculitis and reconstruction, followed by Rohit Gohil’s detailed septal perforation repair videos. Professor Dame Valerie Lund traced the evolution of rhinology in her lecture ‘Rhinology Rules: Revisited’, it was a privilege to hear her, given her direct contribution to the field. Professor Carl Snyderman’s talk highlighted both the technical and non-technical skills in the armamentarium of the modern rhinologist. A comprehensive panel discussion on facial pain chaired by Mr Raj Bhalla completed the programme.
The meeting ended with a warm welcome, and passing of the torch, to incoming BRS President, Ashok Rokade (above). BRS 2025 in Edinburgh was a combination of tradition with transformation and next year’s edition will be highly anticipated.
BRS Juniors Day
Max Roderick, ENT CT2, Broomfield Hospital, East of England Deanery, UK
Following the success in Cardiff last year, BRS 2025 took place in the historic city of Edinburgh. The Juniors meeting was highly engaging with a range of fantastic speakers from the UK and abroad including Professor Amin Javer from Vancouver and Professor Darlene Lubbe from Cape Town.
One of the key themes of the day was rhinology fellowships, with talks from former fellows on what their year involved and how it had influenced their practice. Both UK based and international fellowships were discussed, providing plenty of inspiration for trainees.
Soni-Jaiswal’s talk was a great insight into the BRS mentorship scheme and the way in which it can help new consultants with the challenges they encounter.
The Q&A panel session provoked interesting discussion from fellowship directors, who gave their thoughts on what makes good fellow and what they look for in a prospective candidate.
The morning concluded with an interactive FRCS viva led by Professor Clare Hopkins, who took the audience through the key topics in the rhinology FRCS station by putting consultants in the hot seat and testing their knowledge under pressure – a format very much enjoyed by the juniors in the audience.
