Submitted Abstract
The 7th International Symposium on Molecular Allergology (ISMA) has been organized in Luxembourg from 9th to 11th November 2017. ISMA is one of 8 focused meetings organized by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the largest medical association in Europe in the field of allergy and clinical immunology. ISMA is a biannual meeting attracting scientists from all over the world to present cutting edge science and discussions in a focused area. The major aim of this meeting is bridging the gap between research in molecular allergology and clinical practice.Markus Ollert, Department Director at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), and Christiane Hilger, Principal Investigator at the Department of Infection and Immunity, co-organized the meeting as local organizing chair and local organizing secretary, respectively. The scientific programme was compiled together with the Scientific Programme Committee composed of members of the EAACI Interest Group Allergy Diagnosis and Systems Medicine and the Immunology Section of EAACI.This year, for the first time, the meeting was structured into 2 parallel session tracks, one covering the classical ISMA thematics such as allergen structure and function, allergy diagnosis and clinical management, immunotherapy and prevention. The second track focused on novel developments in microbiome, omics, biomarker, biologicals and tolerance induction research. In addition, plenary sessions were scheduled at the start of each day and at the end of the meeting. The meeting was a huge success, with about 300 registered participants from 42 countries. A total of 35 internationally renowned speakers from 15 countries have been invited in order to guarantee a worldwide scientific representation. The European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education awarded 15 credits (CME) for the participation in the event. A total of 79 abstracts have been received. Eight were selected for oral presentations which were included in the parallel sessions, giving young emerging scientists the opportunity to present and discuss their work in front of a large audience. In order to facilitate access to the meeting to young scientists from less privileged areas of the world, 8 travel grants were awarded to juniors who had submitted abstracts that were highly rated. Abstracts not selected for oral presentation were presented as posters during two sessions: the first during the welcome reception, and the second during lunchtime of the next day. Posters were allocated to 6 thematic poster sessions and 3 chairmen were assigned to each session. They walked through the posters and applicants had the possibility to present their work in a 3 minutes talk and to answer questions of the chairmen and other participants. A poster prize was allocated to the best presentation of each session.The meeting was of an excellent scientific quality throughout. Cutting-edge results were presented both in lectures and on posters and there was a very active scientific exchange in all sessions which inspired ISMA 2017 delegates and faculty members. This is also reflected by the positive feedback of a satisfaction survey done shortly after the congress. The quality of the scientific topics was rated good and excellent by 84% of the participants and 92% confirmed that the meeting fulfilled their educational goal and learning experience.ISMA 2017 was well covered by the national press media, including articles in several daily newspapers, a report with embedded interviews of the 2 Local Congress Chairs in the national TV evening news and a live interview on a well-known radio station, thus providing an excellent visibility of the meeting in Luxembourg and the greater region of neighboring countries in Belgium, France and Germany.