A Message from the President – 1 December 2023

November 29, 2023 President's Letter
Photo by Karen Mossman
Photo by Karen Mossman

Sarah Gaffen, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

The results are in, and it’s official. The Athens ICIS meeting in October rocked! We have compiled answers from the survey of attendees, which confirmed our own feelings about the success of this conference. Kudos to Drs. George Pavlakis and Vangelis Andreakos for leading such a terrific event. The “proof of the pudding” is that over 95% of attendees plan to come to another Cytokines meeting based on their experience in Greece (Figure 1). Many favorite speakers were highlighted in the survey, with special shoutouts to Dr. Virginia Pascual (2nd Annual Jürg Tschopp Memorial Lecturer) , Dr. Judy Lieberman (2023 ICIS-Pfizer Award for Excellence in Cytokine & Interferon Research) and Dr. Luke O’Neill (“Immunometabolism in macrophage function”).  One person described these talks as “mindblowing,” and I could not agree more.  Luke O’Neill’s band “Metabollix” band was, not surprisingly, a hit.  Minor issues were raised concerning the app, the crowded poster session on Day 1 (which was fixed by Poster Sessions 2 & 3). and the packed schedule – a perennial problem when we have so much great science to share, but that we will take into account for future meetings. We’re excited to see as many of you as possible at next’ year’s meeting in Seoul (October 20-23, 2024, www.seoul.cytokinesociety.org), which will feature Nobel Laureate Dr. Drew Weissman as keynote speaker.  We plan to have lots of travel awards, so be sure to apply by the May 20th Abstract Submission Deadline!

Are you planning to attend a Cytokines meeting in the future?

Figure 1. Nearly everyone who answered the 2023 ICIS meeting survey plans to attend another Cytokines meeting

In other excellent news, we have renewed the contract for Joan Oefner, our Managing Director since 2017. A new addition is Ms. Stephanie Flores, CAE (Certified Association Executive), who will be sharing the responsibilities of the position. Joan and Stephanie have worked together in the past at CASSS, a non-profit scientific organization focused on biopharmaceutical development and regulation. Stephanie attended her first ICIS meeting in Athens to get a feel for our organization. “I already feel right at home” she said, “I look forward to working with Joan and everyone to make the meeting in Seoul just as outstanding as Athens”. In a coincidence that is probably a good omen, Stephanie and I share a birthday (same year and everything). Everything that goes well with the Cytokine society and meetings can be attributed to them, and I personally cannot thank Joan and Stephanie enough for all they do.

Stephanie Flores (L), & Joan Oefner, ICIS Co-Managing Directors
Stephanie Flores, CAE, ICIS Co-Managing Director, enjoying the Keynote Presentation by George Yancopoulos, Regeneron.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

November 29, 2023
Photo by Karen Mossman
Photo by Karen Mossman

Sarah Gaffen, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

The results are in, and it’s official. The Athens ICIS meeting in October rocked! We have compiled answers from the survey of attendees, which confirmed our own feelings about the success of this conference. Kudos to Drs. George Pavlakis and Vangelis Andreakos for leading such a terrific event. The “proof of the pudding” is that over 95% of attendees plan to come to another Cytokines meeting based on their experience in Greece (Figure 1). Many favorite speakers were highlighted in the survey, with special shoutouts to Dr. Virginia Pascual (2nd Annual Jürg Tschopp Memorial Lecturer) , Dr. Judy Lieberman (2023 ICIS-Pfizer Award for Excellence in Cytokine & Interferon Research) and Dr. Luke O’Neill (“Immunometabolism in macrophage function”).  One person described these talks as “mindblowing,” and I could not agree more.  Luke O’Neill’s band “Metabollix” band was, not surprisingly, a hit.  Minor issues were raised concerning the app, the crowded poster session on Day 1 (which was fixed by Poster Sessions 2 & 3). and the packed schedule – a perennial problem when we have so much great science to share, but that we will take into account for future meetings. We’re excited to see as many of you as possible at next’ year’s meeting in Seoul (October 20-23, 2024, www.seoul.cytokinesociety.org), which will feature Nobel Laureate Dr. Drew Weissman as keynote speaker.  We plan to have lots of travel awards, so be sure to apply by the May 20th Abstract Submission Deadline!

Are you planning to attend a Cytokines meeting in the future?

Figure 1. Nearly everyone who answered the 2023 ICIS meeting survey plans to attend another Cytokines meeting

In other excellent news, we have renewed the contract for Joan Oefner, our Managing Director since 2017. A new addition is Ms. Stephanie Flores, CAE (Certified Association Executive) who will be sharing the responsibilities of the position as Co-Managing Director. Joan and Stephanie have worked together in the past at CASSS, a non-profit scientific organization involved in biopharmaceutical development and regulation. Stephanie attended her first ICIS meeting in Athens to get a feel for our organization. “I already feel right at home” she said, “I look forward to working with Joan and everyone to make the meeting in Seoul just as outstanding as Athens”. In a coincidence that is probably a good omen, Stephanie and I share a birthday (same year and everything). Everything that goes well with the Cytokine society and meetings can be attributed to them, and I personally cannot thank Joan and Stephanie enough for all they do.  

Stephanie Flores L Joan Oefner ICIS Co Managing Directors
Stephanie Flores CAE ICIS new Co Managing Director