President's Message
June, 2025
Dear All,
I hope this message finds you refreshed after the 2025 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. What an incredible few days of learning, collaboration, and reconnecting with colleagues. Now, as we move deeper into 2025, I’m delighted and excited to share some CIS updates with you, as well as some fun photos from the annual meeting!
AM25, CIS Council Election, and Award Winners
Thank you to the more than 660 individuals who joined us in Philadelphia as well as virtually for the 2025 Annual Meeting. As always, the meeting showcased the best of our field's innovation and leadership. Thank you to Elie Haddad, Megan Cooper, and Manish Butte and the meeting planning committee for developing and executing such a fantastic gathering of speakers and leading-edge topics, and thank you to all of our wonderful industry partners who helped support our meeting.
We were proud to honor Dr. Enrico Drago (Boston Children's) with the I-CIS Innovation Grant - Vicki Modell Award for his groundbreaking gene editing research in IEI. Additionally, the Foundation Scholar Grants recognized three outstanding clinicians working to advance PID care globally through mentored learning experiences in the U.S.: Dr. Teona Iremadze establishing Georgia's first PID team, Dr. Estefania Vásquez pioneering an IEI national reference clinic in Colombia, and Dr. Andrew Wong-Pack improving adult immunodeficiency care in Canada.
2025 Vicki Modell Award Recipient:
Dr. Enrico Drago
Boston Children's Hospital
2025 Scholar Grant Recipients:
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Dr. Teona Iremadze
Tbilisi, Georgia
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Dr. Estefanía Vásquez
Medellín, Colombia
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Dr. Andrew Wong-Pack
Ontario, Canada
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Our society gains strong new leadership with Dr. Lisa Forbes Satter as President-Elect and Dr. Manish Butte as an elected Councilor. Their expertise will serve to continue the positive impact of the CIS. Additionally, we are excited to have the continued wisdom of Dr. Dan Adelman, who will continue in an appointed Councilor position for two years to enhance our knowledge of CIS’s financial outlook into the future alongside CIS Treasurer, Dr. Monica Lawrence. We are honored as well to welcome back Dr. Megan Cooper to the Council, where she will fill a one-year appointed vacancy following Dr. Monica Lawrence’s transition into the role of Treasurer. Dr. Cooper’s return is a tremendous asset to our organization, particularly given her deep familiarity with the developments surrounding the new official journal of CIS, the Journal of Human Immunity. Her expertise will be instrumental in keeping CIS members informed about key opportunities through JHI, both in the immediate future as well as in the years ahead.
President-Elect
Lisa Forbes Satter, MD, FCIS
Baylor College of Medicine
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Megan Cooper, MD, PhD, FCIS
WashU Medicine
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Daniel Adelman, MD, FCIS
UCSF
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Manish Butte, MD, PhD, FCIS
UCLA
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New CIS Representative on the FOCIS Board of Directors: Congratulations to Dr. Elena Hsieh
CIS congratulates Dr. Elena Hsieh as she begins her term to serve as an at-large Director representing CIS as a FOCIS Member Society on the FOCIS Board of Directors. Dr. Hsieh along with other colleagues have organized the upcoming CIS/LRA/FOCIS Symposium:
Deciphering the Genetic Etiologies of Lupus - One Gene at a Time which will take place on June 24th in Boston at the FOCIS meeting.
Journal of Human Immunity
I’m thrilled to highlight the Journal of Human Immunity (JHI) as a cornerstone of our collective mission. Under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Jean-Laurent Casanova, JHI has quickly become a new home for transformative research. To our CIS community: Let’s seize this momentum. Read the inaugural editorial to see how your work aligns with JHI’s bold vision, register for email alerts to stay ahead, and most importantly, submit your research to shape the future of our field. Together, we can build JHI to be a foundational journal in the field.
CIS Foundation
Kelli Williams and the Foundation Committee hosted an incredibly fun night of karaoke and comradery this year at the CIS 2025 Annual Meeting, and raised over $17,000 to supplement the CIS Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to advancing the field of immunology and providing resources and educational opportunities for all CIS members. Thank you to all who participated in the event and created fond memories for all of us.
Upcoming Educational Opportunities: CIS Summer School
The CIS Summer School will occur October 9–12 in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida! Our four-day intensive course dives deep into the clinical aspects of primary immunodeficiency and immune dysregulatory disorders in a mostly case-based learning environment blended with expert lectures with interactive small-group career and life mentoring sessions. It’s an unparalleled opportunity for Fellows and Junior Faculty to learn from, and network with the field’s leading experts. I highly encourage all fellows interested in pursuing a career in IEI to apply.
Advocacy for Science
CIS has signed onto two letters to Congress advocating for budgetary support for the NIH. CIS is proud to support good science and peer-reviewed research in clinical immunology.
As you can see, CIS is working hard to ensure that we maintain a vibrant community full of opportunities and support for all of us in the IEI field. As always, please reach out with any questions or comments at any time, and enjoy a few favorite photos from the 2025 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia below!
Warmly,
Rebecca Marsh, MD, FCIS
CIS President
