The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) have awarded the 2026 ESCEO-IOF Pierre Meunier Young Scientist Award to  Professor Charlotte Beaudart, Associate Professor of Clinical Research at the University of Namur, and Senior Advisor to the WHO Collaborating Center for the Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Health and Aging.

The prestigious annual Award was presented on April 18, 2026, at the WCO-IOF-ESCEO Congress in Prague, Czech Republic. The Award recognizes young investigators in the field who have demonstrated outstanding scientific merit early in their careers. It is named after the late Professor Pierre Meunier, a distinguished clinician and scientist who made major contributions to the field and was a significant mentor to numerous investigators who went on to become academic leaders.

About Charlotte Beaudart

Professor Charlotte Beaudart, PhD is a Belgian epidemiologist and internationally recognized expert in aging and musculoskeletal health. She is currently Associate Professor of Clinical Research at the University of Namur, within the Public Health Aging Research & Epidemiology (PHARE) Group, Research Unit in Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (URPC), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), Faculty of Medicine. She also serves as Senior Advisor to the WHO Collaborating Center for the Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Health and Aging.

Professor Beaudart obtained her PhD in Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Economics from the University of Liège (2016)) and is now widely recognized for her pioneering contributions to the field of musculoskeletal health, particularly in sarcopenia. Her academic trajectory includes a research stay at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton (UK), and postdoctoral appointments at the University of Liège and Maastricht University. She also served as Methodologist at the European Respiratory Society (Lausanne).

She is the founder and principal investigator of the SarcoPhAge cohort and the developer of SarQoL®, the first disease-specific quality of life questionnaire for sarcopenia, now internationally validated. Her work has significantly influenced consensus definitions, outcome assessment, and guideline development in sarcopenia and osteoporosis.

Her scientific output includes over 230 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 63), with papers published in leading journals such as The Lancet and Nature Reviews Rheumatology. She is internationally recognized for her expertise in systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and network meta-analyses.

Professor Beaudart holds multiple strategic leadership roles. She is Scientific Board Member of ESCEO, Board Member of the Belgian Bone Club and the Belgian Ageing Muscle Society, member and working group co-leader within the Global Leadership Initiative on Sarcopenia (GLIS), co-leader of the EUGMS Special Interest Group on systematic reviews and meta-analyses, member of the Sciensano Scientific Committee, member of the FNRS Doctoral School in Medical Sciences, and member of the Collège des Jeunes Chercheurs of the Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique. She is also co-founder of the IOF Emerging Scientist Network.

Her work has been recognized through numerous competitive grants and prestigious awards, including the Collen-Francqui Start-Up Grant (2025–2028), the Prix René de Cooman 2026, the 2023 AstraZeneca FRS-FNRS Award, the ESCEO-IOF Herbert Fleisch Medal, and multiple FNRS and Fondation Léon Frédéricq grants. In 2024, she was named “Namuroise de l’année – Sciences” and one of the “Visages de la Recherche Scientifique” by the FNRS.

Beyond research, she coordinates the EMOTION Erasmus Mundus Joint Master programme, promoting excellence and gender equity in clinical research training across Europe.

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World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis & Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO-IOF-ESCEO Prague 2026)

Held jointly by IOF and ESCEO, the Congress takes place in Prague, Czech Republic, April 16-19, 2026. WCO-IOF-ESCEO is the world’s largest annual forum for the presentation of clinical research and new advances in the prevention and management of bone, muscle and joint disorders, including skeletal rare disorders, sarcopenia and frailty. For complete information visit www.wco-iof-esceo.org  #OsteoCongress

About ESCEO

The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) is a non-profit organization, dedicated to a close interaction between clinical scientists dealing with rheumatic disorders, pharmaceutical industry developing new compounds in this field, regulators responsible for the registration of such drugs and health policymakers, to integrate the management of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis within the comprehensive perspective of health resources utilization. The objective of ESCEO is to provide practitioners with the latest clinical and economic information, allowing them to organize their daily practice, from an evidence-based medicine perspective, with a cost-conscious perception. www.esceo.org

About IOF

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world’s largest nongovernmental organization dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. Its members — including committees of leading scientific researchers and 349 patient, medical, and research organizations across 152 countries — work together to make fracture prevention and healthy mobility a global healthcare priority.www.osteoporosis.foundation   @iofbonehealth