International Complement Society

Brief History:

The International Complement Society (ICS) was legally registered as a non-profit organization in the State of Missouri, USA, on 29 June, 2001.

The establishment of the ICS was preceded by regular formal workshops (the International Complement Workshop, ICW) with the first taking place in 1956 in Washington, DC, USA, and subsequent meetings occurring biannually since then until today. In 1995, Professor Michael Pangburn (University of Texas, USA) suggested the formation of an official international society dedicated to the advancement of complement research.

At the 17th ICW in Rhodes, Greece, in 1998, the local meeting organizers, the late Professor Volanakis (University of Alabama, USA) and Professor John Lambris (University of Pennsylvania, USA) together with the international organizing committee of the 17th ICW initiated the process of ICS formation by fostering the election of steering committee in 1999 that would draft the by-laws for the official Society. The committee consisted of Professors Neil Cooper (Scripps Clinic and Research Institute, USA), John Lambris, Manfred Dierich (Innsbruck Medical University, Austria), B. Paul Morgan (Cardiff University, UK), and Michael Pangburn. The committee began drafting the bylaws of the future ICS at the 18th ICW in Snowbird, Utah, USA in 2000. Prof. John Atkinson was elected as interim President and spearheaded with the additional elected Board of Directors (President Elect, Prof. Moh Daha; Secretary, Prof. Michael Holers; Treasurer, Prof. Michael Pangburn) and councilors (Professors Marco Cicardi, Anna Erdei, Zvi Fishelson, David Isenman, Taroh Kinoshita, John Lambris, Seppi Meri, B. Paul Morgan, Anne Nicholson, Charlie Parker, and Andrea Tenner) the finalization of the bylaws and the establishment and registration of the ICS in the State of Missouri in 2001.

From the 19th ICW in Palermo in 2002 on, the general assembly then began officially voting and electing all Council members. With its core mission in mind – the promotion of advances of complement research and development through the encouragement of cooperative educational programs, clinical applications, and professional standards in the complement field – the ICS has organized all ICWs since 2001 as well as numerous additional conferences across continents and countries. It is the foremost Society for those interested in complement research with a thriving community of over 500 registered members and provides standards and guidance for clinical and academic complement research across disciplines, actively fosters the education of the next generation of complemetologists, and the promotion and embedment of complement research across immunological subdisciplines.

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Other Details

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Regional Federation: N/A

Society Website: www.complement.org/

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