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2025 Congress Chairs
Ed RybickiUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa
Michelle GroomeUniversity of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Michael SchotsaertIchan School of Medicine, Mount Sinai
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2025 Welcome Letter
A Welcome from the ISV Congress Co-ChairsDear Delegates,
On behalf of the International Society for Vaccines (ISV), it is a great pleasure and honor to welcome vaccine experts from around the globe and across diverse disciplines under the umbrella of vaccinology to the 2025 ISV Annual Congress in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
For the first time in its history, the ISV Annual Congress, the world’s largest non-profit scientific conference dedicated to vaccines, will take place on the African continent. We invite experts in vaccinology from diverse fields spanning human and veterinary preventive and therapeutic vaccination, as well as immunotherapy. Attendees represent various disciplines, including basic science, vaccine development, regulatory affairs, production, and epidemiology, and hail from academia, industry, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The ISV Congress fosters dynamic engagement between senior scientists and young trainees across various domains of the vaccine field. It provides a platform for established and emerging vaccine experts from different sectors to exchange knowledge and discuss opportunities for advancing vaccines.
The ISV Scientific Committee curates a program featuring renowned speakers addressing globally significant topics, while ensuring a substantial portion of presentations come from submitted abstracts. ISV places a strong emphasis on fostering collaboration and supporting career development. There will be special career sessions for the next generation of vaccinologists. We encourage early career vaccinologists, as well as vaccinologists that are underrepresented in science to submit an abstract to be considered for an oral presentation. Dedicated initiatives are in place to support trainees and early-career researchers in advancing their careers. These include a career development panel discussion, senior scientists providing feedback on poster presentations, and the ISV mentoring program. Furthermore, the Bright Sparks sessions, which are juried competitions, offer an excellent platform for post-doctoral fellows and young researchers to demonstrate their research and presentation skills. Sessions are designed to allow ample time for questions, discussions, and networking, whether through informal conversations or by engaging with poster and oral presentations.
The ISV Annual General Meeting, integrated into the Annual Congress, serves to establish essential ISV policies and elect members to the ISV Board. Engaging with the ISV provides a valuable opportunity to expand your scientific network and enhance your professional visibility.
The ISV annual conference will be held from October 28-30 in Stellenbosch, a vibrant university town in South Africa's Western Cape province, situated 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Cape Town and nestled amidst the Cape Winelands' scenic vineyards, flanked by the picturesque Jonkershoek and Simonsberg mountain nature reserves. The venue can be easily accessed from the international airport of Cape Town.
The 2025 ISV Annual Congress website will be updated with information on abstract submission, venue, travel information, travel awards and program. We are proud to share that this year’s Stanley Plotkin’s Lecture will be given by Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town. A keynote talk has also been confirmed for Dr. Drew Weismann (UPenn, USA).
We are looking forward to welcoming you to the 2025 ISV Annual Congress for three days of science, meeting new and old colleagues, networking and gastronomy in the midst of Stellenbosch’s nature and wineries.
Sincerely,
2025 ISV Annual Congress Co-Chairs:
Ed Rybicki (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Michelle Groome (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa)
Michael Schotsaert (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA)
2025 Scientific Committee
Patrick Arbuthnot, University Witwatersrand - SA
Linda-Gail Bekker, Desmond Tutu Foundation for HIV Research - SA
Alejandra Capozzo, Universidad Abierta Interamerica, - Aregentina
Behazine Combadiere, Sanofi - France
Manon Cox, NextWaveBio - USA/Netherlands
Kai Dallmeier, KU Leuven - Belgium
Marc-André d'Aoust, Aramis Biotechnologies - Canada
Baptiste Dungu, UNIKIN & Onderstepoort Biological Products - SA
Barbara Felber, National Cancer Institute(NCI) - USA
Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - USA
Ab Osterhaus, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover - Germany
Waranyoo Phoolcharoen, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Wolfgang Preiser, Stellenbosch University - SA
Ted Ross, Cleveland Clinic - USA
Hanneke Schuitemaker, Valneva - Austria
Megan Shaw, University of the Western Cape - SA
Duncan Steele, Gates Foundation - USA
Anna-Lise Williamson, University of Cape Town - SA
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