IUIS Excellence in Immunology Award (EXCELL)

The IUIS Excellence in Immunology Award (EXCELL) is the first and only IUIS prize that specifically recognizes women and non-binary immunologists for their outstanding research accomplishments. This triennial USD 40,000 award was established by the GEC in 2020 as Menarini Prize and will be continued as EXCELL Award from now on.

The first awardee was Dr. Diane Mathis, whose tremendous achievements in immunology were celebrated with an award ceremony at the 18th International Congress of Immunology (IUIS 2023) in Cape Town, South Africa.

IUIS is honored to announce that 2025 EXCELL Award goes to Dr. Arlene Sharpe. She will be awarded at the IUIS congress 2025 in Vienna, Austria and will deliver her lecture at IUIS 2025 on Thursday, August 21, 2025, from 15:00 to 15:30, where she will share insights from her groundbreaking work in immunology.

Rules for nominations and selection of awardees:

First step: Nominations

The IUIS Gender Equity Committee (GEC) has formed a Nomination Committee (NC) composed of 100 outstanding immunologists. The IUIS commitment to equality and diversity across the divides of race, age, national origin or social status is reflected to the extent possible in the composition of the NC.

Each member of the NC is responsible for collecting one nomination consisting of the following:

  • A nomination letter 
  • CV of the nominee
  • List of up to ten publications 
  • One page summary of the nominee’s research accomplishments 

Female and non-binary members of the NC may self-nominate, in which case they must submit two letters of support for their nomination from two other members of the Nomination Committee.

Nominations should be sent to info@iuis.org to the attention of Mitra Momeni.

Second step: Shortlist

A Selection Committee (SC) composed of 12 outstanding immunologists, including the past Chair of the GEC Committee, is formed for a three-year term. Members of the SC will create a shortlist of three candidates from the nominations received.

Third step: Finalist

The GEC Committee and the IUIS President will identify the winner from the shortlist.

Final step: the EXCELL Award Ceremony

The winner of the EXCELL award will be invited to the next IUIS congress to receive the prize and give an award lecture, followed by a celebration.