The EFI Information Page

• A Brief History
• Aims of EFI
• The Ceppellini Lecture
• The Julia Bodmer Award
• The EFI Medal
• Membership of EFI
• EFI Publications

A Brief History

The European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI) (previously known as The European Foundation for Immunogenetics) was formally founded in March 1985, and is registered in the Register of Associations in the Tribunal d'Instance de Strasbourg. The administrative address of the FEDERATION is at 10 Rue Spielmann, 67065 Strasbourg cedex, France.

The roots of the FEDERATION can be traced back to the late 1970's and stem directly from the work of the Committee of Experts in Histocompatibility set up under the auspices of the Council of Europe. In 1981 the Members of the Committee decided that time had come to establish a formal organisation for immunogeneticists and tissue typers.

One of the main aims of the FEDERATION was the organisation of biennial meetings. The Council of Europe offered its headquarters as a venue and the first meeting took place in 1983 in the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg. Since 1990 EFI has organised meetings annually.

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Aims of EFI

The aims of EFI are summed up in the Constitution. They are;

• To advance the development of Immunogenetics in Europe as a discipline of medicine and support research and training.
• To provide a forum for exchange of scientific information and to reinforce the skills and knowledge of young scientists and others working in the field.
• To create a formal organisation of workers in the field of immunogenetics, histocompatibility testing and transplantation.
• To elaborate recommendations for standardisation of techniques, quality control and criteria for accreditation and to support their implementations.
• To promote the organisation and use of immunogenetic data bases.
• To develop relations with similar organisations.

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The Ceppellini Lecture

Each year at the annual EFI meeting a scientist who has made a substantial contribution to the field of Immunogenetics is honoured by the society and invited to present their work in the form of the Ceppellini lecture. The lecture is named in honour of Ruggero Ceppellini (1917-1988) an Italian geneticist who was greatly influential in the HLA field. He was the organiser of the Third International Histocompatibility Workshop held in Torino, Italy in June 1967.

A list of all the recipients of this award is given below. 1988 - Jon J. van Rood 1990 - Walter F. Bodmer 1991 - Jack Strominger 1992 - Fritz Bach 1993 - Alberto Piazza 1994 - Andrew McMichael 1995 - Hugh McDevitt 1996 - Hidde Ploegh 1997 - Eva Klein 1998 - Paul Terasaki 1999 - Peter Morris 2000 - Julia G. Bodmer 2001 - Dominique Charron 2002 - Marie-Marthe Tongio 2003 - Peter Parham 2004 - John Trowsdale 2005 - Mary Carrington 2006 - Rolf Zinkernagel 2007 - Klas Karre 2008 - Hans-Georg Rammensee 2009 - Cees Melief 2010 - Emil Unanue

Photo courtesy WF Bodmer

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The Julia Bodmer Award

As a tribute to the late EFI president Julia Bodmer, who encouraged many young researchers in the field of Immunogenetics, an award was established to recognize the work of a young scientist. The award is associated with an oral presentation in a plenary session at the annual EFI meeting. A list of all the recipients of this award is given below. 2002 - Benedicte Lie 2003 - Maria Pascual 2004 - Marlies Dankers 2005 - Peter Horn 2006 - James Traherne 2007 - Blanca Rueda 2008 - Roberta Rizzo 2009 - Luca Vago 2010 - Constanca Figueiredo

Photo courtesy SGE Marsh

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The EFI Medal

The EFI medal is awarded annually by the EFI Executive Committee to recognise the achievements of individuals who during the course of their career, have made a significant contribution to EFI.  The award is made upon retirement of the selected individual and is normally awarded at the General Assembly at the annual EFI conference.  Candidates to be considered for receiving the EFI medal can be proposed to the Executive Committee by any of the EFI committees.  Exclusions to candidates for the EFI medal include past EFI Presidents and past Ceppellini lecturers. A list of all the recipients of this award is given below. 2005 - GB Ferrara 2005 - Zafirys Polymenidis 2006 - Aad van Leeuwen 2006 - Ieke Schreuder 2006 - Renee Fauchet 2007 - Antonio Nunez-Roldan 2007 - Ella van den Berg-Loonen 2008 - Catherine Stavropoulos - Giokas 2009 - Shagra Goldman 2009 - Mogens Thomsen 2010 - Jean-Denis Bignon 2010 - Colette Raffoux

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Membership of EFI

Membership of EFI is open to all workers in the field of Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility. New Members need to be proposed and seconded by two other EFI Members.

In April 2009 there were 889 Members in 63 countries. There are also EFI Members in a number of countries outside Europe. The annual membership fee is presently 30 Euro. Members receive the quarterly EFI Newsletter free of charge. EFI Members are eligible for a reduced registration fee at the annual European Histocompatibility Conference and can apply for bursaries to attend these conferences. It is also possible to apply for educational bursaries to visit other laboratories. EFI Members are entitled to participate and vote at the Annual General Assembly, where important decisions are made.

Members of EFI (April 2009)

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EFI Publications

A quarterly EFI Newsletter informs Members of the progress of the work of the various Committees. The EFI Newsletter publishes contributions and letters from Members, their views and news, as well as reports of meetings and other articles of interest to tissue typers. A team of regional editors informs the readership of news and developments in different regions or countries.

The EFI Standards and Quality Assurance Committee has published EFI Standards for Histocompatibility Testing. The Standards provide a basis for the EFI accreditation process and are regularly reviewed and updated before being presented to the membership for approval.

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