- EFI web
- About EFI
European Federation for Immunogenetics
EFI, the European Federation for Immunogenetics (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 history of EFI
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.
Mission and goals
It is the mission and goal of EFI:
- To support the development of Immunogenetics in Europe as a discipline in medicine and promote research and training in this field.
- To provide a forum for exchange of scientific information and to reinforce the skills and knowlegde of young scientists and others working in the field.
- To create a formal organisation of workers in the field of immunogenetics, histocompatiblity testing and transplantation.
- To develop recommendations for standardisation of techniques, quality control and criteria for accreditation and to support their implementation.
- To promote the organisation and use of immunogenetic databases.
- To develop relations with organisations with similar aims.
The association shall abstain from any type of political activity.
European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI) recognises the value of having a diverse group of people with a diversity of thinking and perspectives involved in EFI and wishes to use the differences that people bring with them as an important resource in furthering our important mission and objectives.

The past Presidents are:
J.J. van Rood † | 1985 - 1988 |
B.A. Bradley | 1988 - 1990 |
E. Albert | 1990 - 1992 |
J. Hors † | 1992 - 1994 |
M.M. Tongio | 1994 - 1996 |
J.G. Bodmer † | 1996 - 1998 |
F.H.J. Claas | 1998 - 2000 |
E.S. Curtoni † | 2000 - 2002 |
E. Thorsby † | 2002 - 2004 |
F. Garrido | 2004 - 2006 |
D. Charron | 2006 - 2008 |
S.G.E. Marsh | 2008 - 2010 |
I.I.N. Dioxiadis | 2010 - 2012 |
G. Fischer | 2012 - 2015 |
E. Naumova | 2015 - 2018 |
J. Mytilineos | 2018 - 2021 |
Obituary. In memory of Erik Thorsby (1938-2021).
With sadness we received the message that our good friend and colleague Erik Thorsby has passed away. Erik was one of the pioneers, who made several important contributions to the field of histocompatibility and immunogenetics.
Obituary. In memory of Erik Thorsby (1938-2021).
Obituary: Prof. Dr. Johannes Joseph (Jon) van Rood (1926-2017)
Prof. dr. Jon J. van Rood, a distinguished member of our scientific community, passed away on 21 July 2017 at 91 years of age. In light of his scientific legacy, we wish to commemorate some of his most significant achievements and contributions.
Obituary: Prof. Dr. Johannes Joseph (Jon) van Rood (1926-2017)

EFI Constitution
The organisation was founded on March 6th 1985 bearing the name: European Foundation for Immunogenetics, hereafter EFI. It is REGULATED by articles 21-79 of the local civil law and by the present articles. It is recorded in the Register of Associations in the Tribunal d'Instance de Strasbourg under No XXXXVIII No 70. The name European Federation for Immunogenetics was adopted on June 11 1996 and recorded in the Register of Associations on 17 January 1997. The current articles were adopted by the General Assembly (the EFI membership) on 22nd April 2021 and subsequent acceptance by the French Court.
2023 - Proposed changes to the EFI Constitution
French Legal Statutes - 22 April 2021
English translation - 22 April 2021
Overview of the European Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Conference
1983 | 1 - Strasbourg | France |
1985 | 2 - Strasbourg | France |
1988 | 3 - Strasbourg | France |
1990 | 4 - Strasbourg | France |
1991 | 5 - Noordwijkerhout | the Netherlands |
1992 | 6 - Strasbourg | France |
1993 | 7 - Stresa | Italy |
1994 | 8 - Strasbourg | France |
1995 | 9 - Brighton | United Kingdom |
1996 | 10 - Paris | France |
1997 | 11 - Budapest | Hungary |
1998 | 12 - Strasbourg | France |
1999 | 13 - Crete | Greece |
2000 | 14 - Montpellier | France |
2001 | 15 - Granada | Spain |
2002 | 16 - Strasbourg | France |
2003 | 17 - Baden-Baden | Germany |
2004 | 18 - Sofia | Bulgaria |
2005 | 19 - Istanbul | Turkey |
2006 | 20 - Oslo | Norway |
2007 | 21 - Barcalona | Spain |
2008 | 22 - Toulouse | France |
2009 | 23 - Ulm | Germany |
2010 | 24 - Florence | Italy |
2011 | 25 - Prague | Czech Republic |
2012 | 26 - Liverpool | United Kingdom |
2013 | 27 - Maastricht | the Netherlands |
2014 | 28 - Stockholm | Sweden |
2015 | 29 - Geneva | Switzerland |
2016 | 30 - Kos | Greece |
2017 | 31 - Mannheim/Heidelberg | Germany |
2018 | 32 - Venice | Italy |
2019 | 33 - Lisbon | Portugal |
EFI sponsors several awards to recognize scientific accomplishments and contributions to the fields of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, and to service to the society:
- Ceppellini Lecture
- Julia Bodmer Award
- EFI Medal
- Best Abstract Award / Jon van Rood Award
- Best Poster Award
For more information on the above award, please click here.

Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is accountable to the General Assembly for the upholding of the interests of EFI and shall perform all acts of management or arrangements which it deems necessary or desirable in order to carry out the aims and objectives of EFI as determined by the General Assembly.
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Accreditation Committee
The Accreditation Committee is to develop criteria for accreditation and to support their implementation.
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Education Committee
To promote education and training for technical, scientific, and medically qualified staff in the field of transplantation immunology, histocompatibility and immunogenetics throughout Europe and beyond.
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EPT Committee
External Proficiency Testing (EPT) is a mandatory part of the EFI accreditation process for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (H&I) laboratories. The major goal of the EFI EPT Committee (EPTC) is to harmonise EPT for H&I affiliated with EFI.
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IT & Bioinformatics Committee
The IT & Bioinformatics Committee is installed in 2018 to support the Executive Committee and all other Committees with IT related matters.
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Scientific Committee
The EFI Scientific Committee (SC) is responsible for promoting Science related to Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics within EFI. This includes maintaining relationships to other Scientific Societies in the field, promotion of international scientific collaborations and recruitment of new young investigators to the field.
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Standards Committee
The aim of the Standards Committee is to develop recommendations for the standardisation of techniques, quality control and criteria for accreditation and to support their implementation.
Read moreDo you have questions and/or remarks about EFI?
Please feel free to contact the EFI Office.
+31 71 - 526 51 11 efioffice@lumc.nl