International Cytokine & Interferon Society

The International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS) [1] is a non-profit organization composed of researchers of cytokines, interferons and chemokine cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and the use of biological response modifiers clinically. As the premier organization in the field of cytokine biology, it has more than 950 member scientists and holds annual conferences around the world.

ICIS Leadership

The ICIS has an elected Council that oversees operations. Sarah Gaffen (University of Pittsburgh) is the current President, Curt Horvath (Northwestern University) is President-Elect, Chris Hunter (University of Pennsylvania) is Past-President.

History

Originally founded in 1988 as "The International Cytokine Society" (ICS), after having co-hosted annual meetings with the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR), the two organizations merged to become the International Cytokine and Interferon Society (ICIS) in 2013.

Annual Meetings

ICIS holds annual conferences around the world, usually in October or November. The 2024 conference was held jointly with the Korean Association of Immunology at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center Seoul, Korea. The conference featured keynote speakers Professors Judi Allen (University of Manchester) and Nobel Laureate Drew Weissman (University of Pennsylvania). The 2025 ICIS meeting will be held Nov 2-5 in Seattle Washington [2].

ICIS Awards

Each year the society selects recipients of multiple awards at various career stages.

Mid-Senior career awards: ICIS/Pfizer Award for Excellence in Cytokine and Interferon Research (formerly known as the Seymour and Vivian Milstein Award), the ICIS/BioLegend William E. Paul Award, the ICIS/Luminex Jack Kettman Award, the ICIS Mentorship Award, the ICIS Honorary Lifetime Membership Award, and the ICIS/Howard A. Young Distinguished Service Award.

Young Investigator awards: ICIS/ Regeneron Pharmaceuticals New investigator awards, ICIS/Christina Fleischmann Award, ICIS/ Pfizer Amanda Proudfoot Tribute Award for Advances in Chemokine Biology, and the Joan and Sidney Pestka Graduate and Post-Graduate awards.

Travel Awards: Many travel awards are given to top-ranked abstracts for attendance at the annual meeting. The ICIS Joan Oefner travel award was created in 2024.

Journal

The ICIS has no official journal. There are informal connections to the Journal of Cytokine and Interferon Research, published by Mary Ann Liebert, and Cytokine, a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of cytokine biology is published by Elsevier.

External links

• Official website