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Welcome to the 40th Scandinavian Society for Immunology meeting at Geilo, Norway

2011; Wiley; Volume: 73; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1365-3083.2011.02509.x

1365-3083

Bjarne Bogen,

Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

It is again time for immunologists from the Nordic countries to gather and exchange results and ideas obtained in the lab and by the bench-side during the last year. In addition, participants will be joined by many friends from outside the Nordic countries, including an impressive list of invited speakers. This year’s educational Summer School, which preceeds the actual SSI meeting, has for the occasion been renamed as a Winter School. The reason is rather obvious, taking the time of the year and the conference site in the mountains of Norway into consideration. The Winter School will focus on Vaccines, a research theme that has been encompassed with considerable interest during the last few years. Indeed, recent progress in our understanding of basic immunological mechanisms has increased the prospect of generating potent vaccines against a number of diseases such as HIV, influenza, malaria, tuberculosis and cancer. Development of improved vaccines may in fact be considered as immunology’s ‘Pro bono publico’– our service to the citizens of the world. Such an undertaking is expected of us immunologists, and we should do it! Success in generating novel and potent vaccines will demonstrate the advanced state of the science of immunology. To the contrary, failure to do so will indicate that we still don’t sufficiently understand important aspects of immune function. The program of this SSI meeting is composed of six symposia sessions, covering most aspects of immunology. However, for this type of meeting of limited size and duration, it is impossible for the program to be comprehensive. In excess of hundred abstracts, printed in this issue of Scand J Immunol, have been submitted. There will be four workshops and two poster sessions. The organizers hope for lots of discussions, interactions, and establishment of new collaborations and friendships! There is a saying that ‘Norwegians are born with their skiis on’. This probably also holds true for Swedes and Finns. Skiing conditions in the mountains of Norway are usually best in March and April, with plenty of snow and lots of sunshine. I urge everyone to get out into the tracks and slopes and enjoy the conditions. But be aware of avalanches and unexpected bad weather – we want everybody to return safely back home. Listen to experienced local people and ski together with somebody (while discussing immunology)! It has been rhetorically asked: ‘What did the first Norwegians do when the glaciers retracted from Northern Europe about 15,000 years ago?’– the answer is that they indeed followed after, hunting reindeers that moved North with the receding ice. The fondness of Norwegians for mountains and wintery conditions is still manifested today: when snow disappears in the lowlands, Norwegians move in flocks to the mountains to enjoy the last moments of skiing before spring comes also to the highlands. I hope that you enjoy taking part in this tradition, blended with state-of-the art immunology.