Immunology News - June 2025

Our summer issue celebrates the immunologists bringing together science and society – whether it’s through art, history or working with policymakers.

This issue also includes hellos and good-byes as we meet our new BSI Committee members and say farewell to Dr Doug Brown, the BSI’s Chief Executive of the past seven years. We also explore new offerings to those interested in publishing in BSI journals and reflect on recent public engagement, Vaccine Engagement Day and policy work.

You can also read about the results of our latest Member Survey, where our community shared their views on the BSI's work and activities, and what we can do to better support our members.

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Articles

Jun

BSI Cancer Immunotherapies Summit: uniting science, clinical practice, industry and policy to transform cancer care

In March 2025, the British Society for Immunology ran a high-level Cancer Immunotherapies Summit at the Royal Society in London. Chaired by BSI Clinical Research Secretary, Colin Dayan, this meeting brought together almost 50 experts spanning academic research, government, clinical practice, industry and patient focused charities to share insights, challenges and priorities in the field of cancer immunotherapy.

Jun

An update on the BSI-CIPN

We are now approaching a year since the launch of the BSI-CIPN Strategic Plan 2024–2027, and time has flown! The first year of implementation of the strategy has involved a lot of collaboration and hard work, and a chance to convene in person in Birmingham at the BSI-CIPN Conference 2024.

London aerial view - Shutterstock ESB Professional.jpg

Jun

Diversity – from biology to research culture

Diversity is the cornerstone of immune function, which is shaped by genetic, epigenetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. From the vast diversity of adaptive immune receptors to context-specific functions of immune cells in different tissues, diversity within and between organisms has provided a key evolutionary advantage. In other words, ‘strength lies in differences, not in similarities’.

Jun

Reintroducing Read & Publish with the BSI family journals

We want to make it as easy as possible for the immunology community to make the most out of our journals – and the research published within them. In this article, Georgia Tromans, Marketing and Communications Officer at the BSI, explains how to take advantage of the publishing options within our journals, how publishing your research open access could raise your profile, and why Society publishing matters now more than ever.

An image of the exhibit and willow sculptures

Jun

Museums: a public window to the past, present and future of scientific research

In this article, Dr Sean Elias, Public Engagement with Research Lead (VaxHub), Pandemic Sciences Institute, reflects on his recent visit to the Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History's latest special exhibition "The Deadly Six".

Jun

An interview with Dr Doug Brown, BSI Chief Executive, as he leaves the Society to embark on a new role

Dr Doug Brown will be leaving his role as the BSI’s Chief Executive at the end of August to take up the position of Chief Executive at the Royal Society of Biology. In his seven years with the BSI, Doug has led a huge transformation in terms of how we operate, including implementation of a new strategy and business model to secure the Society’s financial sustainability. We caught up with Doug to hear his reflections on his time at the BSI, and his hopes for the future.