European Federation for Immunogenetics

Mission and goals

It is the mission and goal of EFI:

1. To support the development of Immunogenetics in Europe as a discipline in medicine and promote research and training in this field.
2. 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.
3. To create a formal organisation of workers in the field of immunogenetics, histocompatiblity testing and transplantation.
4. To develop recommendations for standardisation of techniques, quality control and criteria for accreditation and to support their implementation.
5. To promote the organisation and use of immunogenetic databases.
6. 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.

Equality, diversity & inclusion policy

President's page

From the EFI President -  EFI Newsletter, issue 100, March 2023

The past Presidents are:

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

Overview of the European Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Conference

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.

Accreditation Committee

The Accreditation Committee is to develop criteria for accreditation and to support their implementation.

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.

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.

IT & Bioinformatics Committee

The IT & Bioinformatics Committee is installed in 2018 to support the Executive Committee and all other Committees with IT related matters. 

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.

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.