Our popular Advanced Course in Basic and Clinical Immunology course was held live and virtually on March 1-3, 2021, with over 700 registrants. Course organizers shared the overall positive feedback on the zoom-based platform, highlighting the two new women faculty, faculty camaraderie, the international attendance.
Program
Over three days, 12 renowned speakers explored major topics in cellular and molecular immunology – taking attendees from the bench to the bedside and back again. There were two new faculty: Lisa Denzin, PhD, Rutgers University (Lecture: Antigen Presentation), and Stephanie Dougan, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Lecture: Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy). Faculty presented live, hosted daily Q&A sessions after the lunch break, and engaged with attendees during evening networking sessions.
Attendance
FOCIS members received complimentary registration. To encourage global participation, organizers offered non-members a tiered rate structure with discounted registration fees for FCE trainees and attendees from lower-income countries. FOCIS also gave 18 group registration packages to groups of three (3) or more individuals with a commonality of organization or working group. Of the 707 registrations, 60% were from the US or Canada and 40% were based internationally. All registrants had access to course recordings slide decks for an additional 30 days after the live course.
Reviews and Evaluations
Like previous years, the course offered a pre-test and post-test of the same questions to measure the learning gained during the course. The results demonstrate a 25% change in knowledge.
Attendees praised the course in the evaluations, sharing:
- “Absolutely wonderful lectures, concise and easy to understand, covers just about everything you need to know.”
- “Extremely talented speakers who were amazing experts in their field, with the ability to explain complexity and diversity of the immune system in an easy-to-follow manner and with great enthusiasm. I have never liked a course so much as this one!”
- “World-class faculty with clear and effective delivery of content. [As a surgeon undertaking immunology research after 13 years], the course was pitched perfectly to revisit these subjects for me to relearn and apply to my clinical practice. I loved Prof Pillai’s poems and raps, which is the sort of ‘icing on the cake’ lost in clinical practice!”
- “The quality of the presentations was amazing. Everyone was extremely engaging, fun, and clear.”
- [It offered] core immunology with a translational point of view.”
Thank You to Supporters
This course is supported by independent educational grants from AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb, a medical education grant from Grifols, and an educational grant from Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC.
Invitation for 2022 Course in San Diego
Experience this popular course for yourself! Join the list of more than 2,200 clinicians, researchers, and trainees who attended the course since it was first offered in 2007. The 2022 U.S. Advanced Course will be held from March 3-6, 2022 at the Estancia La Jolla in San Diego, California, USA. Online registration will open in fall 2021. Find out more at www.focisnet.org/education/advanced-course-in-basic-clinical-immunology/.