Dear ICIA 2022 Participants
Discoveries in fundamental immunology have been applied in numerous ways to improve health. The pioneering 18th century work of Edward Jenner on the vaccine that eradicated smallpox has been followed by success with COVID-19 vaccines that saved innumerable lives and helped control a pandemic that caused unprecedented social and economic devastation during our own lifetime. There is now much hope also for a promising new vaccine against malaria developed at the Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research in the University of Oxford, which is undergoing field trials in Africa. We are also presently witnessing dramatic improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of many infectious diseases, including COVID-19, and non-infectious illnesses such as cancer, autoimmunity and allergy through the use of immunology. I expect that your participation in this international conference, and the exchange of ideas and information that accompanies it, will benefit your own research and teaching in immunology and its application to improving human health.
