European Federation for Immunogenetics

Besides the Executive Committee, EFI currently has 7 committees installed to execute the activities per the purpose of the Association. You can find more information about the committees on the committees page:

Committees page

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 106, March 2025

Dear EFI Members,

it is with deep sorrow that I am going to start this message to you sharing our sadness for the passing of Professor Frans Claas, an outstanding scientist, whose work in Histocompatibility and Transplant Immunogenetics will leave an indelible mark in the field of organ transplantation, and a great friend for all the colleagues that worldwide had the chance to meet him. He was deeply involved in the EFI activities, able to give wise advice to everyone  in need, a real strong column for our community. Frans held the role of EFI President from 1998 to 2000, was the Chair of the Scientific Committee from 1996 to 2005 and was the Editor of the EFI newsletter for many years. He dedicated his career mostly to understanding the complex mechanisms that govern organ and tissue transplants, identifying new aspects in the field of H&I that contributed to the improvement of clinical outcome, minimizing the complications for patients. Our thoughts are with his wife Ilse, with his family, with his friends, and with all those who had the privilege of working with him, in particular with the group of the Scientists in Leiden. We will dearly miss Frans, but we all know that his work and influence, a real gift to our Scientific Society, will endure over the time.

Although it is difficult in the present message to take care of other issues that may be of interest for EFI, we need to look ahead, and I am sure that Frans would be the first to encourage all of us, suggesting that we put our energy into the daily work, training and into scientific research.

With this spirit, on the behalf of his memory, I am going to inform you that Tony Slavcev and Gottfried Fisher are strongly working and delighted to welcome all the participants to Prague for the 38th European Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Conference, next May 2025. The motto that characterizes the Conference, emphasizing the perspectives and new scientific developments, is “Immunogenetics: Science and Clinical Applications – The Way Ahead”, anticipating with its meaning the extremely interesting Scientific Program proposed by the Local Organizing Committee in conjunction with the Scientific Committee, chaired by Luca Vago. The interesting talks that will be presented during the working days of the meeting by leading experts in the field, who have agreed to be take part to the conference, will focus on the new research developments, showing the achievements that, discovering new biological mechanisms, will definitely improve the specific level of care for the patients.  

This is also a nice occasion to remind you that the 17th East-West Immunogenetics Conference will be held in Warsaw from March 23 to 25, 2025, organized by Jacek Nowak and Katarzyna Bogunia-Kubik, a great opportunity to share the latest research developments in the H&I field.

Another important scientific appointment that I would like to bring to your attention is the next 18th international Summer School (ISS) on Immunogenetics that will be held in the city of Mérida, in Mexico, from April the 6^th to the 9th, 2025. Lotte Wieten, from the Maastricht University and David Roelen, form LUMC in Leiden will be part of the faculty, as EFI representatives. ISS, sponsored by ASHI, EFI, APHIA and ARSHI will provide a course focused on the aspects of theoretical and applied Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility, limited to a small group of participants interested in research or advanced learning opportunities, will be this year hosted by our colleagues of ASHI.

Meanwhile the different EFI Committees are working to enhance the service to our community. In particular we are putting our attention to the EFI Website, that in conjunction with the skills of the Bioinformatics and IT Committee, chaired by Eric Spierings and with the help of Sonja, Ingrid and Margriet from the EFI Office, will hopefully bring relevant improvements in the next few months. Meanwhile, I consider the changes brought in the web site which are already available to be very useful, introducing a new way to easily reach the large number of scientific resources stored in the web site, under the “education” section, once the access to the personal login is made. Presentations relating to different teaching sessions, lectures and talks produced during previous EFI Conferences, ISS etc. are ready to be enjoyed sitting in front of our own workstations. Moreover, I would like to inform you that in the next few weeks, both the Scientific Committee and the Education Committee, chaired by Deborah Sage will start a program of webinars, on a monthly basis, throughout all the present year. It is my wish that this new online tutoring program will be followed and appreciated by the EFI members.

I would also like to give my special thanks and show my appreciation to the wonderful team in the EFI Office, namely Sonja Geelhoed, Ingrid Abelman and Margriet van Rijn. Also included are the EFI Officers, the Councillors on the Executive Committee and everyone who contributes to the work of our EFI Committees, especially the Chairs. These roles are very rewarding and each committee member is valued and respected. We are also delighted to announce that the newly welcomed EFI Young Professionals Working Party is to become a brand new Committee which will be chaired by Timo Olieslagers and Arianne Brandsma. It is hoped that with their support EFI will promote a fresh and youthful outlook, helping the society to meet the needs of our future scientists. Finally, I would like to thank again the Accreditation Committee. Under the direction of Blanka Vidan Jeras, Christien Voorter and Sabine Scherer, helped by Sonja and Ingrid, and through the great efforts produced by the Commissioners and by the Inspectors, they allow our Labs to constantly maintain the appropriate certification, essential for continuing the correct interaction with the different worldwide International Donor Registries, Scientific Societies and other Professional Bodies.

Best regards

Ciao

Marco

The past Presidents are:

Obituary. In memory of Frans H.J. Claas (1951-2025).

Frans Claas, a towering figure in histocompatibility and immunogenetics, passed away on Sunday, February 2, 2025, at the age of 73.

Obituary. In memory of Frans H.J. Claas (1951-2025

Tribute to Frans Claas - Transplantation Journal

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 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 organization was founded on March 6, 1985, under the name European Foundation for Immunogenetics, abbreviated as EFI. It is governed by articles 21-79 of the local civil law and by its current articles. The organization is registered in the Register of Associations at the Tribunal d'Instance de Strasbourg under No XXXXVIII No 70. The name was changed to the European Federation for Immunogenetics on June 11, 1996, and officially recorded in the Register of Associations on January 17, 1997. The current articles were adopted by the General Assembly (the EFI membership) on April 28, 2023, and subsequently approved by the French Court.

French Legal Statutes - 28 April 2023

English Translation - 28 April 2023

Overview of the European Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Conference

EFI sponsors several awards to recognise scientific accomplishments and contributions to the fields of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics and to service to 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.

EFI is located in the historical "Poortgebouw" building of the LUMC (Leiden University Medical Center) in Leiden, the Netherlands. The contact details are:

EFI Office
Poortgebouw
Noordzijde, Room N00-002
Rijnsburgerweg 10
2333 ZA Leiden
The Netherlands

+31(0) 71 - 526 51 11
efioffice@lumc.nl