Apply

Expand your possibilities with the FOCIS Centers of Excellence.

Apply to become part of the FCE community of researchers and clinicians accelerating multidisciplinary scientific and clinical innovation and education worldwide.

The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) is devoted to advancing the science and medicine of clinical immunology through multidisciplinary educational programs. Towards this aim, FOCIS created the FOCIS Centers of Excellence (FCE), which aims to accelerate multidisciplinary scientific and clinical innovation and education, worldwide.

A FOCIS Center of Excellence is identified as a multidisciplinary group based in an academic institution and encompassing three or more areas of research relevant to clinical immunology.

Join over 71 leading academic medical centers worldwide by formalizing your local network of clinical immunology researchers and clinicians into an FCE.

Application Requirements & Submission Procedures 

Proposed FCE Leadership 

• Identify leadership for the proposed FCE, including an FCE Director and Associate Director. The proposed individuals must be agreeable to filling the leadership role for at least three (3) years.
• Identify a trainee representative who is willing to serve in the role for at least two (2) years.
• Identify a minimum of three (3) other key faculty members who will be involved with the FCE.
• Attach NIH biosketches, or brief summaries of research interests, for all of the faculty above.

Application Components 

• (1) Summary of how your center works towards advancing clinical immunology research and application as a multidisciplinary field and how designation as an FCE would benefit these activities
• (2) Describe your center’s resources that enable collaboration to advance clinical immunology research (examples could include unique expertise and/or infrastructure, patient registries, biobanks, and clinical trial activities).
• (3) Highlight examples of ongoing and potential future collaborative research activities within the FCE, as well as with other FCEs where appropriate.
• (4) Describe the educational programs for graduate students and fellows that currently exist and state how FCE designation would enhance these activities
• (5) Outline the strategies that will be used to promote and track trainee and faculty participation in the annual FOCIS meeting, including the process that will be used to select recipients of travel awards.

Supporting Documentation 

• (1) A supporting letter from a member of the FOCIS Board, Executive or Steering Committee, or an FCE Director. The selected sponsor should ideally have personal knowledge of the proposed center and Director.
• (2) Append NIH biosketches (or an equivalent format no more than 5 pages) of the proposed FCE Director, Associate Director, and Trainee representative, as well as a minimum of 3 additional key FCE Faculty members.

Submission

Compile the information above and complete the online FCE designation application form. Applications are reviewed twice per year by the FCE Committee. 2023 submission deadlines are:

• Friday, April 21, 2023
• Friday, November 17, 2023

Notification 

Notification will of the FCE Committee’s decision will be emailed to the proposed Center Director and Associate Director within four (4) weeks of submission.

Please contact the FOCIS Executive Office at info@focisnet.org with any questions.

It is an expectation that the FCE Directory and/or Associate Directory attend the Annual FOCIS meeting and FCE Directors Meeting on a regular basis and have trainee representation at the Annual FOCIS Meeting. There is no term limit for an FCE Director.

United States or Canadian-based FCEs should be represented at the Director’s meeting at least once every two years, and International FCEs should be represented at the Director’s meeting at least every three years. If United States or Canadian-based FCEs do not attend the Director’s meeting for four consecutive years, the FCE will be considered inactive. If International FCEs do not attend the Director’s meeting for six consecutive years, the FCE will be considered inactive.

FCEs are also required to submit a renewal application every five years. Renewals will be evaluated using the point system summarized below, with the expectation that each United States or Canadian-based FCEs should accumulate 12 points every five years and each International FCE should accumulate 8 points every five years. If a center is below this point threshold, the FCE is considered inactive. The FCE Directory may elect to disband the FCE or to make changes so that the activity expectations are met within two years. At least one point must be generated annually to maintain active status. FOCIS staff will monitor participation on an annual basis and provide an annual summary to each FCE Director.

Annual Participation in FOCIS activities (1 point for each attendee/each program)

• FCE Directory and/or Associate Directory attend the Annual FCE Directors Meeting
• FCE trainees* attend the annual FCE Fusion event at the FOCIS Annual Meeting
• FCE members submit abstracts to the FOCIS Annual Meeting
• One or more FCE trainees* attend the Advanced Course in Basic & Clinical Immunology
• FCE representatives attend a FOCISed Course or FOCIS-affiliated educational activities, such as the Basic Immunology in Medicine course; Cancer Immunity & Immunotherapy course; Interventional Immunology course; Systems Immunology course; European Advanced Course
• Contribute to FOCIS publications
• Collaborated with another FCE in a research or educational activity, this may include activities such as co-submission of grants, co-authorship on publication, participation in multi-center clinical trials
• Other collaborative research activities that provide evidence of engagement in the overall FCE spirit such as sample sharing, fundraising for FOCIS events, or participating in organization and/or teaching in FOCIS-sponsored events

*Trainees include graduate students, postdoctoral fellows (post-PhD), and post-health professional fellows (e.g., medicine, dentistry) conducting research at an academic institution.