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Immunology from the East
The European Journal of Immunology invited representatives of two members of the International Union of ImmunologicalSocieties (IUIS), Japan and Turkey (also an EFIS member), to present their societies in this month's 'News and EFIS' section. Below
the organising committees are introduced, they describe to us what activities were organised for the Day of Immunology, and give
us an insight into the promotion of immunology in their respective countries.

Japanese Society for Immunology goes public: Immunology outreach in Japan
In Japan, the period that spans the last
week of April and the first week of May isa public holiday called the “GoldenWeek”. This year we enjoyed brilliant
weather all over the country during thisholiday. In the midst of this week, theJapanese Society for Immunology (JSI)
organized a novel outreach activity, theMen-eki Fushigi Mirai (Fig. 1), whichliterally translates into “Immunity, Wonder, and Future”. The Men-eki Fushigi
Mirai was the first JSI-sponsored education activity that was aimed at promoting mutual and direct communication
between immunologists and the public,and was coordinated with the Global
Day of Immunology 2007 proposed by
the EFIS and the IUIS. Men-eki Fushigi

Mirai was held for two days from May 3,
2007 at Nippon Kagaku Miraikan, TheNational Museum of Emerging Scienceand Innovation, in Tokyo. We displayed
approximately 50 educational panels
specifically made for this occasion, ineight sections ranging from basic immunology to advanced clinical applications (Fig. 2). Free printouts of thepanels were given to all of the visitors.
We also displayed real lymphoid tissues
and cultured immune cells under various types of microscopes, live animals,
and hand-made models of lymphocytedendritic cell interactions (Fig. 3).
Professor Hiroshi Kiyono was among
many leading immunologists who presented one of a series of 28 short-talks

Figure 1. Men-eki Fushigi Mirai Flyer (left), and Nippon Kagaku Miraikan in Tokyo, the venue for
the Men-eki Fushigi Mirai (right).
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on topics such as mucosal immunity andits potential use for making painlessvaccines (Fig. 4).
A total of approximately 100 JSI
members (investigators and graduate
students in an approximately 2:1 ratio)
volunteered to make this event happen.
The attendance was boosted by niceweather, with approximately 3000 visitors enjoying the event (Fig. 4, Table 1).
Aside from this landmark event in
the capital city of Tokyo, the JSI
Committee on Public Affairs organized
five additional outreach occasions inlocal cities throughout Japan, including
visiting lectures at high schools in Kyoto,
and a small-scale Science Cafe on
immunology in Tokushima (Table 1).
Approximately 720 citizens in thosecities enjoyed the events during theholiday season. It is notable that we had
more participants (totaling approximately 3670) to these activities than tothe annual JSI meetings (2600-2800 in
the last three years). Feedback during
the Men-eki Fushigi Mirai showed thatapproximately 90% of the attendees
became interested in immunology during their visit to the event (858 out of962 questionnaire responses), and approximately 95% of the visitors said they
really enjoyed themselves (898 out of
947 responses). Many visitors mentioned that they favored and appreciatedhaving direct conversations with immunologists and making microscopic observations of living cells and real tissues.
More than 95% of the JSI members who
volunteered at the Men-eki Fushigi Mirai
and related events also expressed delightin being able to communicate with thewww.eji-journal.eu

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visitors and found the event highlysuccessful. The majority of the visitors
and the volunteers voiced their interestin seeing another Men-eki Fushigi Miraiin the near future, hopefully within thenext year. We are certainly excited about
the responses, and hope to establish theMen-eki Fushigi Mirai as a regular
activity of the JSI.
Finally, we would like to express oursincere appreciation to the leadership ofEFIS and IUIS in propagating outreachactivities of immunology at a global
level. Immunology, men-eki-gaku, inJapan is going public! For futher information please visit our website at
http://www.soc.nii.ac.jp/jsi2/english/
index.htm

Figure 2. Examples of panels displayed at Men-eki Fushigi Mirai: (Left) 'How are we immune tosecondary infection?' and (right) 'How does our immune system distinguish between self andnon-self substances?'
Table 1. Men-eki Fushigi Mirai and related outreach activities of the JSI in Spring 2007

Outreach activity

CityDate

Numberof visitors

Men-eki Fushigi Mirai

TokyoMay 3 and 4~3,000Open-campus lecture and exhibition Sapporo

April 28~50

Visiting lecture at a high school

Kyoto

April 2880

Science Cafe on immunology

Tokushima

April 21

26

Public lecture

Kumamoto

April 28~450

Visiting lecture at a high school

Okinawa

April 2571

Various outreach activities

6 citiesin Japan

April 21
to May 4~3670 in total

Yousuke Takahama*1,Hiroshi Kawamoto#2,
Noriko Toyama-Sorimachi*3,and Masayuki Miyasaka§4
Japanese Society for Immunology
1
Division of Experimental Immunology,
Institute for Genome Research, Universityof Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan
2
Laboratory for Lymphocyte Development,
RIKEN Yokohama Institute, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan3
Department of Gastroenterology, International Medical Center of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
4
Laboratory of Immunodynamics, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan*Committee on Public Affairs,
Education Promoting Committee,§President#e-mail: men-eki@s3.dion.ne.jp

Figure 3. Microscopic observations of microinjection experience (left), live animal tanks (middle), and lymphocyte-dendritic cell models (right) at
the Men-eki Fushigi Mirai exhibition.
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Figure 4. Exhibition (left panel) and a short talk (right panel) from Professor Hiroshi Kiyono on mucosal immunity and its potential use for making
painless vaccines at the Men-eki Fushigi Mirai.

Presenting the Turkish Society of Immunology
The Turkish Society of Immunology(TSI) is one of the oldest scientificassociations in Turkey. Its inception
can be traced back to the early 1970s
when a small group of enthusiastic
scientists interested in the clinical andbasic aspects of immunology began tomeet regularly to share their knowledge
and discuss their experiences. These
pioneer scientists formed the core founder members of the Society, which wasestablished in 1974 under the auspices ofProf. Dr. Asuman Mftoğlu in Istanbul.
The Turkish Society of Immunology has
now become of age, so to say, byentering its 34th year as it continues toflourish with over 450 members.
The head office of the TSI is locatedin the heart of Turkey's capital, Istanbul.
The Executive Committee is comprisedof seven dedicated acting members Prof.
Gnnur Deniz (President), Prof. Aydan
Ikincioğullari (Vice President), Dr. GayeErten (General Secretary), Dr. M. Cem
Ar (Treasurer), Assoc. Prof. Nerin Baheciler (Associate), Assoc. Prof. Barbaros

Oral (Associate), and Dr. Glderen
Yanikkaya-Demireland (Associate). The
Executive Committee plans, co-ordinates and performs all of the activitiesof the Society under the presidency ofProf. Gnnur Deniz.
TSI also has working groups indifferent fields of immunology such as
Laboratory Immunology, Flow Cytometry, Clinical Immunology, Immunodeficiencies and Molecular Immunology.
These working groups consist of experts
in the mentioned specialised fields andtheir aim is to reach higher standards inspecific areas of immunology throughpractice and education. According tothis fact, the TSI is organising the “1stTurkish-US Flow Cytometry Workshop”
in collaboration with Istanbul University(Immunology Department of the Institute for Experimental Medicine andIstanbul Medical Faculty) and Miami
University on October 25–28, 2007. The
meeting will last for four days and willbring together national and international speakers. The major goal of thisDay of Immunology, Istanbul, 2006
f 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

A poster about B cells that was displayed
during the Day of Immunology, in Istanbul,
2007

meeting is to promote interactions
between scientists performing flow cytometry applications on the cell cycle,
DNA content measurement, malignantdiseases, signal transduction, stem cells,and drug resistance.
Some of the primary aims of theSociety are to develop and maintain thehighest standards in the practice andteaching of experimental and clinicalimmunology in Turkey. We intend toorganise educational seminars nationwide in order to raise awareness inimmunology and provide a more evengeographical spread of immunologyrelated medical services across thecountry. The TSI would like to encourage “young” scientists to research in thewww.eji-journal.eu

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Day of Immunology, Istanbul, 2007

fields of experimental and clinical immunology, promote collaboration between clinical immunologists and basic
scientists, and to foster and help flourish
working relationships between immunologists in Turkey and other countries.
Our overall objective is to be a recognised authority and an active policy
maker in the field of immunology.
The TSI shares the values of EFIS andIUIS, and participates in their activities
to be a global player in the field ofimmunology.
The TSI with its seminars, local
workshops and national congresses, aswell as various forms of scholarship andsponsorship for young immunologists,furthers the development and practice ofimmunology across Turkey by helping toprovide the needed tools for scientists tokeep up with the increasing pace ofdevelopments in the field. Our Society
organised monthly scientific meetings at
the Cerrahpas˛a Medical Faculty, Istanbul
University from 1990–94 within theframework of its education policy. Since
1996, the Society has been organisingbiennial Practical Immunology Courses.

Eur. J. Immunol. 2007. 37: 1717–1720

Activities and meetings are announced
through our web-site (www.turkimmu
noloji.org.tr) and the “Bulletin of Immunology” with contributions frompost-graduate and PhD students.
Furthermore, since 2000 the TSI has
been holding Regional Immunology
Meetings two or three times a year atuniversities throughout the more rural
areas of Turkey.
The Turkish Journal of Immunology,
which was established in 1996, ispublished in English twice a year, andis the official journal of the TSI. The
journal is intended to be a platform
through which to exchange ideas, discuss “hot” topics and share informationand observations in immunology, bothnationally and internationally.
The TSI has organised 18 international immunology congresses. Nationalimmunology congresses of the TSI takeplace every two years and are hosted indifferent cities within Turkey. The congresses have become the greatest eventof the Turkish immunological community with a contribution from invitednational and international speakers. The
next TSI congress will be held from
November 21 to 24, 2007 in Antalya.
TSI has been a member of EFIS andIUIS since 1971 and 1977, respectively.
The Society also became a member ofthe Balkan Association of Immunological Societies (BAIS) in 1996 and thePresident of TSI, Prof. Gnnur Deniz,
became the vice-president of BAIS in thelast election. The TSI, having hosted the5th European Immunology Congress in1982 and the 5th Balkan Immunology
Congress in 2003, has demonstrated
experience in organising events of thismagnitude.
TSI has also been celebrating the Dayof Immunology by organising conferences, seminars and site visits to schools

37th Annual Meeting of the German Society forImmunology
This meeting will be held in Heidelberg, Germany from September 5 to 8, 2007
in the Ruprecht-Karls-Universitt. The preliminary scientific programme includes
seven symposia, 32 workshops and lunchtime seminars and tutorials. The final
programme will be published on the website by the end of August 2007.

in order to raise public awareness ofimmunology. In 2006 we held a “Oneday public education” activity in theconference hall at the Taksim entranceof the Istanbul underground. Using
audiovisual techniques, we explained
to the public the functions and importance of the immune system. Some ofour members also delivered speeches
about the immune system on radio andTV programmes. The press release of TSI
on the importance of the immunesystem has been published in different
local and national news papers.

A stand at Profilo Shopping centre, Istanbul,
Day of Immunology, 2007

In 2007, we celebrated the “Day ofImmunology” by organising public
meetings in five different cities. We also
visited schools during the week days,
held interactive seminars and distributed booklets explaining the main functions of the immune system. We also
opened a stand in one of the largest
shopping malls of Istanbul promoting
immunology. There we distributed “Dayof Immunology” badges and T-shirts.
The Day of Immunology has been an
excellent way for the TSI to develop ourprimary aims and we look forward toorganising many more in the future.
Gnnur Deniz
President of the TSI
e-mail: info@immunoloji.org.tr

For any further information or questions please contact the conference secretaryMrs. Sonia Aliaga, e-mail: dgfi2007@uni-hd.de or visit http://www.dgfi.dbkr.def 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

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