The International Cytokine & Interferon Society (sometimes abbreviated as ICIS, often referred to as The Cytokine Society) is a non-profit organization composed of researchers of cytokines, interferons and chemokine cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and the use of biological response modifiers clinically. [1] As the premier organization in the field of cytokine and chemokine biology, this group has more than 950 member scientists and holds annual conferences around the world.
The International Cytokine & Interferon Society has an elected Council that oversees operations. Curt Horvath (Northwestern University, USA) is President (2025-2027), and Karen Mossman (McMaster University, Canada) is President-Elect. Sarah Gaffen (University of Pittsburgh, USA) is immediate Past-President.
The ICIS was created from two founder groups: The International Cytokine Society (ICS) and the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR). The two organizations merged to become the International Cytokine and Interferon Society in 2013. [1]
International Cytokine & Interferon Society holds annual conferences around the world, usually in October or November. The 2024 conference was held jointly with the Korean Association of Immunology at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center Seoul, Korea. The conference featured keynote speakers Professors Judi Allen (University of Manchester) and Nobel Laureate Drew Weissman (University of Pennsylvania). The 2025 ICIS meeting was held Nov 2-5 in Seattle Washington and featured Nobel Laureates David Baker (University of Washington) and Charlie Rice (Rockefeller University), and Lasker Award Winner Zhijian (James) Chen (UT Southwestern).
Upcoming Cytokine Society Meetings:
2026 October 18-21, 2026, Glasgow Scotland
2027 Tentatively September 14-17, 2027 Sydney Australia
2028 November 1-4, 2028, Boston MA, USA
2029 Dates TBA, Salamanca Spain
Each year the society selects recipients of multiple awards at various career stages.
Mid-Senior career awards: ICIS/Pfizer Award for Excellence in Cytokine and Interferon Research (formerly known as the Seymour and Vivian Milstein Award), the ICIS/BioLegend William E. Paul Award, the ICIS Mentorship Award, the ICIS Honorary Lifetime Membership Award, and the ICIS/Howard A. Young Distinguished Service Award.
Young Investigator awards: ICIS/ Regeneron Pharmaceuticals New investigator awards, ICIS/Christina Fleischmann Award, ICIS/ Pfizer Amanda Proudfoot Tribute Award for Advances in Chemokine Biology, and the Joan and Sidney Pestka Graduate and Post-Graduate awards.
Travel Awards: Many travel awards are given to top-ranked abstracts for attendance at the annual meeting. The ICIS Joan Oefner travel award was created in 2024, and a new Orion Award was established in 2025.
The International Cytokine & Interferon Society has no official journal. There are affiliations to the Journal of Cytokine and Interferon Research, published by Mary Ann Liebert, and Cytokine, a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of cytokine biology is published by Elsevier.