International Union of Immunological Societies

International Union of Immunological Societies
Name	International Union of Immunological Societies
Abbreviation	IUIS
Formation	1969
Type	Non-governmental organization
Status	Active
Headquarters	Lausanne
Region served	Worldwide
Leader title	President

International Union of Immunological Societies is a global federation of professional Immunology societies that coordinates scientific collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and educators. It links national and regional bodies such as the American Association of Immunologists, the British Society for Immunology, and the European Federation of Immunological Societies to facilitate standards, meetings, and training across continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. Through partnerships with organizations like the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the World Bank, the union influences policy, capacity building, and research priorities affecting institutions such as the Pasteur Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the Wellcome Trust.

History

The union was founded during a period of expanding international scientific cooperation following conferences involving participants from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and Canada. Early engagement included links to the International Council for Science, the Royal Society, the Académie des sciences, and the Max Planck Society, while prominent figures who interacted with the union’s predecessors had affiliations with the Lasker Foundation, the Nobel Prize, and the Royal Society of Medicine. Over subsequent decades the union worked alongside the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Commission, and the National Science Foundation to address emerging challenges like HIV/AIDS and SARS outbreaks, and later collaborated on responses to the COVID-19 pandemic with groups such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Objectives and Activities

The union’s mission emphasizes promotion of immunological research, training, and standardization through alliances with entities like the World Health Organization, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. It sponsors educational programs that connect universities and laboratories including Harvard University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, University of Tokyo, and the University of Cape Town, and partners with funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the European Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust. Activities include development of nomenclature standards adopted by bodies like the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, deployment of training workshops modeled on programs from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and collaborative networks with the International Vaccine Institute and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

Organizational Structure

Governance comprises an Executive Committee, Scientific Committees, and a Secretariat located in Lausanne, interacting with advisory bodies including representatives from the World Health Organization, the Conseil International de la Recherche Scientifique, and major national academies such as the National Academy of Sciences (United States), the Royal Society, and the Académie nationale de médecine (France). Scientific Committees coordinate subfields like cellular immunology, clinical immunology, and tumor immunology, liaising with research centers such as the Institut Pasteur, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Legal and financial oversight draws on practices from organizations like the International Council for Harmonisation, the OECD, and philanthropic governance models exemplified by the Wellcome Trust.

Membership and Regional Societies

Membership consists of national and regional immunological societies from countries and areas represented by organizations such as the American Association of Immunologists, the Japanese Society for Immunology, the Korean Society of Immunology, the Indian Immunology Society, the Brazilian Society of Immunology, the South African Immunology Society, and the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology. Regional groupings encompass the European Federation of Immunological Societies, the Asian Federation of Immunological Societies, the African Federation for Immunological Societies, and the Latin American Society for Immunology, while collaborative links extend to institutions like the African Academy of Sciences, the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Conferences and Meetings

The union convenes the triennial Congress of Immunology, attracting delegates from institutions including Harvard Medical School, Karolinska Institutet, Imperial College London, University of Melbourne, and the University of São Paulo. It organizes specialized meetings such as symposia on vaccine development, autoimmunity, and translational immunology in partnership with organizations like the European Molecular Biology Organization, the International Society for Vaccines, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Collaborative conferences have been held in cities like Geneva, Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, and Cape Town, often co-sponsored by agencies including the World Health Organization and the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Publications and Resources

The union produces position papers, nomenclature reports, and educational materials circulated to scholarly journals and repositories such as Nature Immunology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, The Lancet, Cell, and Science Immunology. It supports online resources and databases developed with partners like the European Bioinformatics Institute, the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, and collaborates on guideline development that informs practice at hospitals such as Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Awards and Recognition

The union administers awards and fellowships recognizing contributions to areas like basic immunology, clinical translation, and capacity building, aligning its honors with the prestige of prizes such as the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Lasker Award, and the Gairdner Foundation International Award. Recipients often include investigators affiliated with institutions like the Salk Institute, the Rockefeller University, the Imperial College London, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, and laureates receive support for projects in collaboration with funders including the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council.

Category:Immunology organizations