2023 First Virtual Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania (FIMSA) Council Meeting
The 2023 Frist FIMSA Council Meeting was held on 28 April, 2023 virtually under the Chairmanship of Prof. Sunil K. Arora, President of FIMSA. The meeting was attended by Dr. Bo Huang (Secretary General); Prof. Osamu Takeuchi (Vice-President of FIMSA); Dr. Kiyoshi Takeda (Treasurer) and FIMSA councilors: Dr. Tanapat Palaga, Dr. Amit Awasthi and Dr. Young-Min Hyun. Drs. Laura Mackay (Past-President FIMSA), Dhanushka Dasanayeke, Di Yu, Kazuyo Moro, Liwei Lu and Mehrnaz Mesdaghi indicated their inability to join the meeting due to some other engagements but conveyed their agreement to the decisions of the council. The meeting was co-hosted by Dr. Zhubo Chen and Dr. Jie Yao from FIMSA-secretariat.
Dr. Sunil Arora introduced the main agenda of the meeting:
- Issues related to Sponsorship of IUIS course in India;
- Organization of FIMSA symposium in IUIS 2023 Congress at Cape Town.
For the first issue Dr. Arora said the IUIS Educational Committee (EDU) asked FIMSA for the sponsorship to the IUIS course in India. And as Dr. Laura Mackay could not attend the course and give her lecture, EDU suggested 2 more lecturers from FIMSA countries may be invited to give lectures. Dr. Arora asked permission from FIMSA council to sponsor 20 scholarships to the registered students and sponsor travel for the 2 speakers. Dr. Takeda suggested that FIMSA should not sponsor the speakers, because FIMSA traditionally does not support IUIS event as FIMSA has its own advanced course to organize. As for the student scholarship he suggested that at least one speaker from FIMSA should be invited to the IUIS course and then it would be proper for FIMSA to involve in this event. Dr. Palaga asked for more details of the course including the budget and participation of the meeting, as whether there are students from other countries outside India will attend the course. Dr. Awasthi mentioned that the scholarship is for the benefit of students and students outside India attended the previous course. Dr. Huang suggested that the IUIS course should ask support from Bill Gates Foundation as EDU did in the past. After discussion all members agreed that the scholarship for 20 students can be granted under the condition that at least 1 lecturer from FIMSA member society other than India should be invited.
For the second issue, Dr. Arora explained the importance of organization of FIMSA symposium in IUIS 2023 Congress at Cape Town. The IUIS is calling for the countries and regional Federations to set symposia. Dr. Miriam Merad, the IUIS president reached out to Singapore Society and asked them to organize a FIMSA symposium due to no response from FIMSA. Dr. Young-Min Hyun clarified that Singapore Society is planning a joint symposium with Korean Society, and it is not a FIMSA symposium. Dr. Arora proposed FIMSA should showcase its presence in the IUIS 2023 Congress and promote the congress. The proposal was approved by the council members. As for the speaker list and the main focus of this symposium, Dr. Takeda mentioned that FIMSA council meeting will be held during the congress and some council members will be there; and Dr. Palaga suggested that the topic of FIMSA symposium should avoid topics from other symposia. Dr. Arora summarized and concluded that FIMSA will organize a separate symposium during the IUIS 2023 congress. The speakers will be selected from the list of council members and FIMSA immunologists who plan to attend the congress on their own funds. And the topic of the symposium will be decided accordingly.
Dr. Arora informed the council members that he will convey the decisions of FIMSA council to Dr. Dieterich Kabelitz regarding the IUIS course in India and Dr. Miriam Merad regarding the FIMSA symposium on behalf of FIMSA. The meeting ended with a thankyou note from the chair.
