The Irish Society for Immunology

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! . 0165-2478/00/$ - see on ma e © 2000 Published by Else ie Science B.V. All igh s ese ed. PII: S0165-2478(00)00223-6