Immunology Le e s 73 (2000) S47
I ish Socie y o Immunology
Cumann na hE
´i eann um Imdhı´oneolaı´och
The I ish Socie y o Immunology
www.else ie .com/loca e/
The I ish Socie y o Immunology is essen ially a
young socie y, which was es ablished in 1984. P io o
ha a a ie y o I ish scien is s and clinicians we e
s udying and p ac icing Immunology, o using im-
munological me hods bu e y ew would ha e called
hemsel es Immunologis s. The ounding o he Socie y
is la gely due o a small band o people who we e
en husias ic abou he possibili ies o his discipline o
shed ligh on he undamen al aspec s o basic science
and o con ibu e o human heal h. Fo emos among
his g oup was John G eally, a consul an Immunolo-
gis om S . James’ Hospi al and T ini y College
Dublin, who was o become he Socie y’s i s p esiden .
Howe e , o he scien is s and clinicians such as Denis
Reen, Cliona O’Fa elly, Hugh McLoughlin, Alex
Whelan, and Con Feighe y pu a emendous e o
in o he o ma i e yea s o he socie y, and i was hei
e o s ha ensu ed ha Immunology in I eland was
no isola ed despi e being geog aphically on he pe iph-
e y o Eu ope. The membe ship du ing ha pe iod
numbe ed be ween 20 and 30, and he deba e a he
ime ocused on whe he he socie y was iable as a
sepa a e en i y, o whe he an app oach should be
made o become a egion o he B i ish Socie y o
Immunology. The u ning poin in he Socie y’s o -
unes p obably came du ing he p esiden ial e m o
Hugh McLoughlin in 1990, when John G eally wi h he
help o Denis Reen and Alex Whelan o ganised a e y
success ul mee ing on au oimmuni y in Galway unded
by he EU. This a ac ed speake s o he highes
in e na ional calib e including Hugh McDe i and
Jean F ancois Bach. The esul ing boos o he sel -
con idence o I ish Immunologis s ans o med he
wo king o he Socie y. The 1990s saw adical changes
o I eland in gene al and hese we e e lec ed in he
scien i ic communi y. T adi ionally, la ge numbe s o
he high quali y g adua es and pos g adua es who we e
educa ed by I ish uni e si ies and medical schools emi-
g a ed o he US o he UK, o en ne e o e u n. The
imp o emen s in he esea ch en i onmen and econ-
omy du ing he mid-1990s saw his end begin o be
e e sed. Du ing he p esidencies o i s Denis Reen
and hen Con Feighe y he Socie y s a ed o expand as
scien is s began o e u n o I ish uni e si ies and es ab-
lish o ans e esea ch labo a o ies. This pe iod also
saw an expansion in he scien i ic scope o he socie y,
which began o b oaden om i s ea ly clinical base and
saw scien is s such as De mo Kellehe , Kings on Mills,
Luke O’Neill, Jacin a Kelly, Be na d Mahon, Jay hoon
Hassan, Aideen Long, De ek Dohe y, Philip New-
sholme and Tina Deignan con ibu e g ea ly. The s a
o he new millennium is an exci ing pe iod o Im-
munology in I eland, he membe ship is app oaching
100, and he socie y is ocusing on p o iding assis ance
o bo h pos g adua es and es ablished scien is s. We
aim o c ea e close links wi h ou neighbou s in he
Uls e Immunology g oup and he B i ish Socie y o
Immunology and indeed h oughou Eu ope and be-
yond. We wish EFIS e e y success o he u u e!
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0165-2478/00/$ - see on ma e © 2000 Published by Else ie Science B.V. All igh s ese ed.
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