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British Society for Immunology
Immunology Letters 73 (2000) S19 – S22
www.elsevier.com/locate/
British Society for Immunology
At the start of the 21st century, the BSI is one of the oldest, largest and most active national immunology societies in the world. Established in 1956, we now have some 4000 members spread across the globe, and our activities range from publication of two journals, Immunology and Clinical Experimental Immunology, to supporting exchange fellowships with scientists from Eastern Europe, and holding an annual Congress which regularly attracts key speakers and participants from all nations. A core activity of the BSI is to support meetings and seminars throughout the UK within its network of Regional Groups. These groups are provided with funds to meet regularly and interact with each other and ensure the dynamic advance of the science of Immunology throughout the United Kingdom. We were registered as a charity in 1966 and, in 1995 we incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. With this change of status our activities have diversified. As well as providing services and benefits to our members, our objective is to advance the science of immunology for the benefit of the general public. To this end, we have developed a programme of public lectures and events at well established venues such as the annual Edinburgh Science Festival. Public interest in science in the UK is rapidly increasing and BSI has taken a lead in promoting immunology and increasing the public understanding of related issues. Working with the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science, BSI regularly contributes to British National Science Week, most recently hosting events at the Jenner Museum in Gloucestershire. Our members can benefit from media training courses, organised in collaboration with the BBC, which enable us to communicate our work more effectively. However, our aim remains to bring immunologists together in a spirit of understanding and friendship, to share their achievements and challenges. As well as our
annual congress, we support a network of 18 regional groups, who conduct seminar series and longer residential meetings. We also have 15 Affinity Groups, representing specialist areas of immunology and these groups regularly hold dedicated scientific sessions at Congress. We have a long-standing reciprocal exchange fellowship scheme which allows visits between UK and Poland, Russia and Czech and Slovak Republics. In memory of Alan Williams, we have funded a series of exchange fellowships between UK and Australia, and we operate a general travel award scheme, which enables our members to attend meetings and conferences in other countries. So, how have we reached this position? And where do we plan to go from here? The BSI came into being in November 1956 following a meeting at Trinity College Cambridge some 2 years earlier in which a group of like minded scientists decided to form a society to bring immunologists together. That group included John Humphrey, Bob White, Robin Coombs and Av Mitchison. Membership of the society cost 10 shillings (0.50 or less than 1 Euro) and a series of 6 monthly scientific meetings were established. These were held at the Wellcome Building in central London and usually took place on a Saturday. The preceding Friday evening was spent in ‘combibulation’ at a local pub. From the very beginning these meetings attracted 60–100 participants and, in a later memoir written by Bob White, it was noted that …these meetings were conducted in a relaxed and sedate fashion, without the frenetic comings and goings of our current parallel sessions meetings. There was also an absence of posturing by self-designated experts
0165-2478/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0165-2478(00)00236-4
S20
British Society for Immunology
The first meeting in November 1956 was noted to have been overshadowed by the Suez crisis and that reflects a political awareness and concern which has driven the BSI throughout its history, and to which I will refer to later. The new society grew rapidly; by 1958 we already had our first overseas members: J. Dausset from Paris; J.da Mota Albuquerque from Brazil; and W.R. Sobey and M.M. Wilson from Australia. This trend continued and the late fifties and sixties saw expansion of the BSI in tune with the expansion of immunology itself. Regular 6 monthly scientific meetings took place up to the 1980s and continued to attract participants from all over Europe providing the opportunity for younger scientists to present their work to an international audience. A particular highlight of this era was the joint meetings set up between the BSI and the Societie Francais d’Immunologie. In 1988, the first of these meetings took place at the fascinating new science venue in Paris, known as La Villette. In a ‘return match’ the Barbican Centre in London hosted the second joint meeting in 1991. This was notable from two perspectives; firstly, the complexity of building, and more specifically, some of the exit instructions, leaves open the possibility that some immunologists could still be wandering around there today looking for a ‘way out’. Secondly, this marked the last of the BSIs 6 monthly meetings. In the grand tradition of the BSI, discussions at a local hostelry between members of the management committee had led to the idea of holding a single Annual Congress at one of the UKs major Conference venues. The aim of this annual event would be to attract speakers from all over the world and to become a forum for immunology both home and abroad. The first Annual Congress took place in Brighton in 1992, and the second in Harrogate in 1993. In keeping with the BSIs interest in hosting joint meetings with our continental neighbours, a joint Congress was held with the Netherlands Immunology Society in Brighton in 1995. This was marked by some of the worst winter weather experienced in the South of England including snow on the beach, with resultant travel chaos. Still, the meeting went ahead and was scientifically and socially lively although a return match there has not been planned for fear of tempting the weather gods again! At the time of the successful launch and development of Congress, it was recognised that small, focus meetings were very important and therefore a sum of money was set aside to support up to three such meetings throughout the UK every year. The conceptual organisation of these was made the responsibility of the regional groups who were asked to organise meetings reflecting the local scientific strengths. These meetings, which have been held over the past 5 years in all corners of the UK, have promoted more understanding about science throughout the country as well as appreciation of our country’s cultural diversity.
From the earliest days of the BSI, a need for an International organisation for the global promotion of immunology was clearly recognised. We were closely involved in the creation of IUIS in 1968 and John Humphrey was one of its first Secretaries General. This gave him a unique opportunity to promote the science of Immunology in Europe and a commission for Europe was set up within IUIS. Immunology meetings within Europe were set up and the BSI jointly organised the second such meeting with the Dutch Society in 1974. In the same year, at our annual business meeting, the BSI ratified the proposed constitution for a European Federation of Immunology Societies, although an interesting debate ensued. Delphine Parrott, the International Secretary and Ian MacClennan disputed the need for a President of the Federation. This was very much in keeping with the egalitarian spirit that has characterised the management of the BSI; from the earliest days it was believed that BSI business should be managed by a committee, with no one individual having a position of supremacy. However, on this occasion, the objections of the BSI were overturned by other member societies and EFIS was established with a Presidential position. Interestingly, John Humphrey was to be elected to this post, although in subsequent minutes of meetings he is referred to as ‘Chairman’ of EFIS — maybe a title he felt more comfortable with! The BSI continued to play an active role in the development of EFIS and in 1981, our International Secretary, Doug Naysmith was elected
Fig. 1. Professor John Humphrey.
S21
British Society for Immunology
Secretary General of the Federation. That decade marked the beginning of a trend for the BSI to involve itself in the development of immunology in Eastern Europe and this has continued through to the present day (Fig. 1). I have alluded to the political awareness and humanitarian concerns of our founder members and how this has impacted the development of the BSI. There has always been a strongly held belief that young scientists should be supported vigorously and that as much help and support as possible should be afforded to immunologists in countries where oppression or poverty prevail. John Humphrey was a dedicated defender of such beliefs, working to enable young immunologists to attend meetings by negotiating bursaries from host societies, and actively supporting immunologists in the Eastern bloc. In 1985, the BSI established its exchange fellowship scheme with the Polish Society for Immunology. Under this agreement, two scientists from each society were funded to attend the annual meetings of the other society. This also gave the opportunity for the exchange fellows to visit laboratories in the host country and this scheme has lead to the development of many long standing collaborations between British and Polish immunologists. The scheme was expanded to include Russian scientists in 1990 when Dr Sergei Suchkov of the Helmholtz Eye Research Institute, came to the UK, attended the EFIS meeting in Edinburgh and visited laboratories in Scotland and England. Kasia Hawrylowicz went to Russia to attend an Immunopharmacology meeting in Tbilisi and this particular exchange had an interesting sequel. One of the BSI regional groups is the London based Antibody Club, of which Kasia was then secretary. Sergei was very impressed with the activities of the Antibody Club and suggested setting up a sister group in Moscow. On her visit to Moscow Kasia was able to help and advise on this, and the inaugural seminar was given by Dr Mike Clarke of Cambridge in 1992. Since then, we have had an ‘honorary’ 19th Regional Group in Russia: the Moscow Antibody Club. Following the death of John Humphrey in 1987, the BSI set up a memorial fund in his name with the objective of distributing books and journals to libraries in Eastern Europe. At the same time, Geoffrey Asherson, then International Secretary, prompted by discussion with Sergei Suchkov, the first Russian exchange fellow, established a series of Summer Schools, in honour of John. These are jointly run by the BSI and the Russian Society for Immunology, are supported by EFIS, the BSI and the Wellcome Trust, and have been held in Pushino, Russia every 2 years since then. The John Humphrey Summer Schools have earned an affectionate place in the hearts of those who have attended students and faculty alike. They are designed to reach young Eastern European scientists, who rarely have
had the opportunity to communicate with their colleagues in the West. About 70% of participants present papers at the meeting affording an excellent opportunity for exposing their work to a wider audience. A faculty of immunologists is established for each Summer School, and throughout the meeting, there is extensive exchange of ideas and experience which is seen as being extremely valuable to everyone. The theme for the year 2000 John Humphrey Summer School was Immunology in Health and Disease and the faculty included Peter Capel, Mo Daha, Gerry Hoyne, Andrew McMichael, and Klaus Rajewsky. Validation of the importance of these meetings came when Drs Geoffrey Asherson and Vladimir Nesmeyanov, the UK and Russian co-ordinators of the JHSS, were successful in winning a substantial grant from INTAS (international Association for the promotion of co-operation with scientists from the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union). This has ensured the running of the 2000 Summer School (Fig. 2). In 1992, Juraj Ivanyi, during his tenure as International Secretary of the BSI, advanced the links with Eastern Europe to include Czechoslovakia in the extended reciprocal exchange scheme. Together with Jaroslav Sterzl, George Wick and Juraj Svac of the Czech, Austrian and Slovac immunology societies, a series of meetings was also established, inspired by the Gordon Conferences in the US. These Conferences are held in the Tatra mountains of Slovakia, and combine high quality scientific sessions with hiking and cultural events. The theme of these meetings has been ‘Molecular determinants of T cell Immunity’ and their aim is to bring a group of interested immunologists together every 2 years, in a pleasant and tranquil environment to enable open discussion and debate of their work and interests. This informal atmosphere breaks down the inhibitions between junior and senior scientists as well as nationalities and has proved to be a very popular event in the immunology conference calendar. The Tatra Conferences were launched with substantial financial support from EFIS, who continue to support
Fig. 2. The Tatra Mountains.
S22
British Society for Immunology
Eastern European countries, where national fragmentation has given rise to new challenges, while looking further afield to Africa and Asia. With the arrival of the electronic age of communication, BSI members have been actively involved in compiling teaching and interactive learning material for immunologists and we are looking to share this extensive experience with our international colleagues. We hope we can live up to the hopes and aspirations of our founder members and continue to run the BSI for the greater good of immunology and the dissemination of our science to everyone interested.
Fig. 3. Kay Dorelli (BSJ) and Prof. Juraj Ivanyi and a delegate relaxing at a Tatra meeting.
them. The next meeting takes place in September 2000, and we are working to secure a future for these meetings beyond that (Fig. 3). So, where are we going from here? The BSI maintains a strong ethos of supporting immunology and immunologists in the UK. The Annual Congress has gone from strength to strength: in 1999 there were over 2000 registrations and Congress 2000 will be the 8th such meeting with invited speakers from all continents. At the same time, our development as a professional organization with full charity status in the UK, continues apace. The BSI now has a trading company, Triangle 3, which undertakes conference organization and provides secretariat services for several biomedical societies. Our own full-time secretariat ensures that immunology as a discipline remains in the public eye and accessible to all our members. We continue to support immunology and immunologists in
We can be found at www.immunology.org This article was prepared by Dr Marilyn Moore, International Secretary of the BSI, with significant input from: Kay Dorelli, Kevin Horlock and Sandra Lowne — BSI Secreatariat; Drs Anne Hamblin, Catherine Hawrylowicz, Juraj Ivanyi, Geoffrey Asherson and Allan Mowat — past and present members of the BSI Management Committee.
www.elsevier.com/locate/
British Society for Immunology
At the start of the 21st century, the BSI is one of the oldest, largest and most active national immunology societies in the world. Established in 1956, we now have some 4000 members spread across the globe, and our activities range from publication of two journals, Immunology and Clinical Experimental Immunology, to supporting exchange fellowships with scientists from Eastern Europe, and holding an annual Congress which regularly attracts key speakers and participants from all nations. A core activity of the BSI is to support meetings and seminars throughout the UK within its network of Regional Groups. These groups are provided with funds to meet regularly and interact with each other and ensure the dynamic advance of the science of Immunology throughout the United Kingdom. We were registered as a charity in 1966 and, in 1995 we incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. With this change of status our activities have diversified. As well as providing services and benefits to our members, our objective is to advance the science of immunology for the benefit of the general public. To this end, we have developed a programme of public lectures and events at well established venues such as the annual Edinburgh Science Festival. Public interest in science in the UK is rapidly increasing and BSI has taken a lead in promoting immunology and increasing the public understanding of related issues. Working with the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science, BSI regularly contributes to British National Science Week, most recently hosting events at the Jenner Museum in Gloucestershire. Our members can benefit from media training courses, organised in collaboration with the BBC, which enable us to communicate our work more effectively. However, our aim remains to bring immunologists together in a spirit of understanding and friendship, to share their achievements and challenges. As well as our
annual congress, we support a network of 18 regional groups, who conduct seminar series and longer residential meetings. We also have 15 Affinity Groups, representing specialist areas of immunology and these groups regularly hold dedicated scientific sessions at Congress. We have a long-standing reciprocal exchange fellowship scheme which allows visits between UK and Poland, Russia and Czech and Slovak Republics. In memory of Alan Williams, we have funded a series of exchange fellowships between UK and Australia, and we operate a general travel award scheme, which enables our members to attend meetings and conferences in other countries. So, how have we reached this position? And where do we plan to go from here? The BSI came into being in November 1956 following a meeting at Trinity College Cambridge some 2 years earlier in which a group of like minded scientists decided to form a society to bring immunologists together. That group included John Humphrey, Bob White, Robin Coombs and Av Mitchison. Membership of the society cost 10 shillings (0.50 or less than 1 Euro) and a series of 6 monthly scientific meetings were established. These were held at the Wellcome Building in central London and usually took place on a Saturday. The preceding Friday evening was spent in ‘combibulation’ at a local pub. From the very beginning these meetings attracted 60–100 participants and, in a later memoir written by Bob White, it was noted that …these meetings were conducted in a relaxed and sedate fashion, without the frenetic comings and goings of our current parallel sessions meetings. There was also an absence of posturing by self-designated experts
0165-2478/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0165-2478(00)00236-4
S20
British Society for Immunology
The first meeting in November 1956 was noted to have been overshadowed by the Suez crisis and that reflects a political awareness and concern which has driven the BSI throughout its history, and to which I will refer to later. The new society grew rapidly; by 1958 we already had our first overseas members: J. Dausset from Paris; J.da Mota Albuquerque from Brazil; and W.R. Sobey and M.M. Wilson from Australia. This trend continued and the late fifties and sixties saw expansion of the BSI in tune with the expansion of immunology itself. Regular 6 monthly scientific meetings took place up to the 1980s and continued to attract participants from all over Europe providing the opportunity for younger scientists to present their work to an international audience. A particular highlight of this era was the joint meetings set up between the BSI and the Societie Francais d’Immunologie. In 1988, the first of these meetings took place at the fascinating new science venue in Paris, known as La Villette. In a ‘return match’ the Barbican Centre in London hosted the second joint meeting in 1991. This was notable from two perspectives; firstly, the complexity of building, and more specifically, some of the exit instructions, leaves open the possibility that some immunologists could still be wandering around there today looking for a ‘way out’. Secondly, this marked the last of the BSIs 6 monthly meetings. In the grand tradition of the BSI, discussions at a local hostelry between members of the management committee had led to the idea of holding a single Annual Congress at one of the UKs major Conference venues. The aim of this annual event would be to attract speakers from all over the world and to become a forum for immunology both home and abroad. The first Annual Congress took place in Brighton in 1992, and the second in Harrogate in 1993. In keeping with the BSIs interest in hosting joint meetings with our continental neighbours, a joint Congress was held with the Netherlands Immunology Society in Brighton in 1995. This was marked by some of the worst winter weather experienced in the South of England including snow on the beach, with resultant travel chaos. Still, the meeting went ahead and was scientifically and socially lively although a return match there has not been planned for fear of tempting the weather gods again! At the time of the successful launch and development of Congress, it was recognised that small, focus meetings were very important and therefore a sum of money was set aside to support up to three such meetings throughout the UK every year. The conceptual organisation of these was made the responsibility of the regional groups who were asked to organise meetings reflecting the local scientific strengths. These meetings, which have been held over the past 5 years in all corners of the UK, have promoted more understanding about science throughout the country as well as appreciation of our country’s cultural diversity.
From the earliest days of the BSI, a need for an International organisation for the global promotion of immunology was clearly recognised. We were closely involved in the creation of IUIS in 1968 and John Humphrey was one of its first Secretaries General. This gave him a unique opportunity to promote the science of Immunology in Europe and a commission for Europe was set up within IUIS. Immunology meetings within Europe were set up and the BSI jointly organised the second such meeting with the Dutch Society in 1974. In the same year, at our annual business meeting, the BSI ratified the proposed constitution for a European Federation of Immunology Societies, although an interesting debate ensued. Delphine Parrott, the International Secretary and Ian MacClennan disputed the need for a President of the Federation. This was very much in keeping with the egalitarian spirit that has characterised the management of the BSI; from the earliest days it was believed that BSI business should be managed by a committee, with no one individual having a position of supremacy. However, on this occasion, the objections of the BSI were overturned by other member societies and EFIS was established with a Presidential position. Interestingly, John Humphrey was to be elected to this post, although in subsequent minutes of meetings he is referred to as ‘Chairman’ of EFIS — maybe a title he felt more comfortable with! The BSI continued to play an active role in the development of EFIS and in 1981, our International Secretary, Doug Naysmith was elected
Fig. 1. Professor John Humphrey.
S21
British Society for Immunology
Secretary General of the Federation. That decade marked the beginning of a trend for the BSI to involve itself in the development of immunology in Eastern Europe and this has continued through to the present day (Fig. 1). I have alluded to the political awareness and humanitarian concerns of our founder members and how this has impacted the development of the BSI. There has always been a strongly held belief that young scientists should be supported vigorously and that as much help and support as possible should be afforded to immunologists in countries where oppression or poverty prevail. John Humphrey was a dedicated defender of such beliefs, working to enable young immunologists to attend meetings by negotiating bursaries from host societies, and actively supporting immunologists in the Eastern bloc. In 1985, the BSI established its exchange fellowship scheme with the Polish Society for Immunology. Under this agreement, two scientists from each society were funded to attend the annual meetings of the other society. This also gave the opportunity for the exchange fellows to visit laboratories in the host country and this scheme has lead to the development of many long standing collaborations between British and Polish immunologists. The scheme was expanded to include Russian scientists in 1990 when Dr Sergei Suchkov of the Helmholtz Eye Research Institute, came to the UK, attended the EFIS meeting in Edinburgh and visited laboratories in Scotland and England. Kasia Hawrylowicz went to Russia to attend an Immunopharmacology meeting in Tbilisi and this particular exchange had an interesting sequel. One of the BSI regional groups is the London based Antibody Club, of which Kasia was then secretary. Sergei was very impressed with the activities of the Antibody Club and suggested setting up a sister group in Moscow. On her visit to Moscow Kasia was able to help and advise on this, and the inaugural seminar was given by Dr Mike Clarke of Cambridge in 1992. Since then, we have had an ‘honorary’ 19th Regional Group in Russia: the Moscow Antibody Club. Following the death of John Humphrey in 1987, the BSI set up a memorial fund in his name with the objective of distributing books and journals to libraries in Eastern Europe. At the same time, Geoffrey Asherson, then International Secretary, prompted by discussion with Sergei Suchkov, the first Russian exchange fellow, established a series of Summer Schools, in honour of John. These are jointly run by the BSI and the Russian Society for Immunology, are supported by EFIS, the BSI and the Wellcome Trust, and have been held in Pushino, Russia every 2 years since then. The John Humphrey Summer Schools have earned an affectionate place in the hearts of those who have attended students and faculty alike. They are designed to reach young Eastern European scientists, who rarely have
had the opportunity to communicate with their colleagues in the West. About 70% of participants present papers at the meeting affording an excellent opportunity for exposing their work to a wider audience. A faculty of immunologists is established for each Summer School, and throughout the meeting, there is extensive exchange of ideas and experience which is seen as being extremely valuable to everyone. The theme for the year 2000 John Humphrey Summer School was Immunology in Health and Disease and the faculty included Peter Capel, Mo Daha, Gerry Hoyne, Andrew McMichael, and Klaus Rajewsky. Validation of the importance of these meetings came when Drs Geoffrey Asherson and Vladimir Nesmeyanov, the UK and Russian co-ordinators of the JHSS, were successful in winning a substantial grant from INTAS (international Association for the promotion of co-operation with scientists from the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union). This has ensured the running of the 2000 Summer School (Fig. 2). In 1992, Juraj Ivanyi, during his tenure as International Secretary of the BSI, advanced the links with Eastern Europe to include Czechoslovakia in the extended reciprocal exchange scheme. Together with Jaroslav Sterzl, George Wick and Juraj Svac of the Czech, Austrian and Slovac immunology societies, a series of meetings was also established, inspired by the Gordon Conferences in the US. These Conferences are held in the Tatra mountains of Slovakia, and combine high quality scientific sessions with hiking and cultural events. The theme of these meetings has been ‘Molecular determinants of T cell Immunity’ and their aim is to bring a group of interested immunologists together every 2 years, in a pleasant and tranquil environment to enable open discussion and debate of their work and interests. This informal atmosphere breaks down the inhibitions between junior and senior scientists as well as nationalities and has proved to be a very popular event in the immunology conference calendar. The Tatra Conferences were launched with substantial financial support from EFIS, who continue to support
Fig. 2. The Tatra Mountains.
S22
British Society for Immunology
Eastern European countries, where national fragmentation has given rise to new challenges, while looking further afield to Africa and Asia. With the arrival of the electronic age of communication, BSI members have been actively involved in compiling teaching and interactive learning material for immunologists and we are looking to share this extensive experience with our international colleagues. We hope we can live up to the hopes and aspirations of our founder members and continue to run the BSI for the greater good of immunology and the dissemination of our science to everyone interested.
Fig. 3. Kay Dorelli (BSJ) and Prof. Juraj Ivanyi and a delegate relaxing at a Tatra meeting.
them. The next meeting takes place in September 2000, and we are working to secure a future for these meetings beyond that (Fig. 3). So, where are we going from here? The BSI maintains a strong ethos of supporting immunology and immunologists in the UK. The Annual Congress has gone from strength to strength: in 1999 there were over 2000 registrations and Congress 2000 will be the 8th such meeting with invited speakers from all continents. At the same time, our development as a professional organization with full charity status in the UK, continues apace. The BSI now has a trading company, Triangle 3, which undertakes conference organization and provides secretariat services for several biomedical societies. Our own full-time secretariat ensures that immunology as a discipline remains in the public eye and accessible to all our members. We continue to support immunology and immunologists in
We can be found at www.immunology.org This article was prepared by Dr Marilyn Moore, International Secretary of the BSI, with significant input from: Kay Dorelli, Kevin Horlock and Sandra Lowne — BSI Secreatariat; Drs Anne Hamblin, Catherine Hawrylowicz, Juraj Ivanyi, Geoffrey Asherson and Allan Mowat — past and present members of the BSI Management Committee.