Following their admission to the IUIS, EFIS is delighted to officially welcome its new affiliates: the Luxembourg Society for Allergology and Immunology (LSAI) and the Association of Immunologists in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AIB&H)! With the inclusion of the LSAI and the AIB&H, EFIS now counts 35 Members!

In addition, EFIS extends its warmest greetings to incoming Society Presidents Alexander Rosenkranz (ÖGAI), Luca Vannucci (CIS), Felix Wensveen (HID) and Arne Akbar (BSI). Read here this latter's welcome address to the BSI Membership base, and his encouraging words regarding interaction with National Societies.

EFIS looks forward to integrating its new Members to the utmost in the growing European immunology community, and to working to the advantage of all affiliates to advancing efforts to address the challenges and needs of researchers and clinicians in immunology and related fields on a European level.

Following the untimely passing of Vito Pistoia in September, a consultation was held among EFIS Member Societies to invite their preferences from among three shortlisted society-nominated candidates for the position of Editor-in-Chief of Immunology Letters: Rudolf Valenta (ÖGAI), Luis Graça (SIP) and Francesco Annunziato (SIICA).

The results of the consultation are now in, and the EFIS Board is pleased to welcome Francesco Annunziato as the new Editor-in-Chief of Immunology Letters.

In welcoming Francesco, the EFIS Board also wishes to thank Václav Hořejší for his invaluable service in this difficult interim period, and to express its gratutude to all other candidates for having submitted impressive and certainly qualified applications for the position.

EFIS is pleased to announce the election of Prof. Federica Sallusto, Professor of Medical Immunology at the ETH Zurich and Group leader of the Cellular Immunology Laboratory at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, to the Office of EFIS President-elect!

Federica Sallusto will formally assume her appointment on January 1st, 2019, and will join incoming President Andreas Radbruch, Past President René van Lier, Secretary General Pablo Engel and Treasurer Winfried F. Pickl to form the 2019-2021 EFIS Board.

In accepting her appointment, Prof. Sallusto had this to say:

“We all share a great passion for immunology and understand the importance of our discipline for the advancement of basic science and for human health.  As Europeans we need to work together to advocate for immunology research at all levels. Through its many activities, EFIS has been supporting the European immunology community for more than 40 years, having as high priority programs for the education of the next generation of immunologists. I am eager to give my contribution to strengthen these programs.”

Prof. Sallusto’s biosketch can be downloaded here.