The committee as of August 1, 2004 is comprised of the members listed below.
Aitken, Robert (Vice-chairman) (2001-2010) UK R.Aitken@bio.gla.ac.uk
Bengten, Eva (2004-2007) USA ebengten@microbio.umsmed.edu
Jenne, Craig (2004-2007) Canada cnjenne@ucalgary.ca
Kacskovics, Imre (Chairman) (2001-2007) Hungary ikacsko@univet.hu
Lefranc, Marie-Paule (2004-2010) France lefranc@ligm.igh.cnrs.fr
Marchalonis, John (2001-2007) USA jmarchalonis@yahoo.com
Muyldermans, Serge (2004-2010) Belgium svmuylde@vub.ac.be
1. Introduction; Update
First, Imre Kacskovics (IK) reported briefly about developments since the last meeting in Quebec City, Canada, 2004, explaining the long delay and inactivity since the last meeting. Our main activity focused on the website (www.medicine.uiowa.edu/CIgW), which is run by John E. Butler (JEB), and is periodically updated. IK also indicated that although the Committee decided that a leadership change would be expected in 2007, Rob Aitken the former vice-chair of CIgW and expected Chair by 2007, could not take the responsibility of being the chair as he became the Associate Dean for Teaching at University of Glasgow that left him rather little time for external responsibilities. The members of the CIgW present supported IK for continuing his task as chair of the Committee, which he accepted.
2. Composition of the Committee, Membership
IK reported that some members of the Committee became inactive or changed affiliation and took other responsibilities and hence it was advisable to invite other scientists to join the Committee. JEB suggested that Bettina Wagner (Cornell University, USA; bw73@cornell.edu), and Yaofeng Zhao (State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnoilogy, China Agricultural University, Beijing) should be invited as they are all active scientists in this field. The members of the CIgW present supported JEB’s suggestion and asked IK to contact and invite them. IK accepted this suggestion. JEB also suggested that the Committee should meet at Prague at the 12th International Congress of Developmental and Comparative Immunology; June 29, 2009... The members of the CIgW present supported JEB’s suggestion.
3. Activites
There was a lengthy discussion about the current and future activity of the Committee. JEB will take responsibility to run the website in the future. Other than that, JEB reminded that the two most important issues that had initiated the formation of this Committee were nomenclature and reagents. These issues should still remain the central focus. Reagents are limited and some may not be reliable. The major problem is a small market for livestock animal reagents and hence, competitive corporate involvement. Therefore governments need to be involved. The USDA is interested (Cyril Gay, USDA, USA) and the Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) of NVSL in Ames, Iowa has agreed to serve as a repository for monoclonal antibodies. At present anti-swine IgA and -IgM monoclonals are free for the cost of shipment. Details will appear on the CigW Website.< www.medicine.uiowa.edu/CIgW>. Serge Muyldermans (SM) raised the issue of intellectual property rights which will need to be resolved.
SM also indicated that there is no problem regarding academic research which can use appropriate material transfer agreements. SM also indicated that until now the most important issues were sequences and nomenclature of the Igs and Fc receptors in animals other than humans and rodents. From now on the Committee should focus more on the structure and function relationship (e.g. binding properties to Fc receptors, complement activation, etc.). The members of the CIgW present supported SM suggestion.
There was a lenghty discussion about future congresses. The Committee suggested that IVIS symposia should be real satellite conferences of the major IUIS meetings, instead of operating as isolated (regarding location and date) meetings. From the CIgW standpoint, it would be extremely beneficial if other scientists who are involved in Igs and Fc receptor research in different species could also interact. A joint IUIS-IVIS meeting in which the first or lasts days are shared would be beneficial. Thus participants in the IVIS conference could join to the IUIS meeting, with little increase in cost of travel or accomodations. The Committee asked IK to forward this propostion to VIC for consideration in planning future meetings. The Committee acknowledged that the next IUIS meeting and IVIS conferences in Japan (2010) have already been arranged and will be located in two different cities. Hence the next possible meeting that could consider this suggestion would be the 2013 meeting
Finally, Jan Naessens asked if it would be possible to publish something about the activity of CIgW? JEB indicated that The Journal of Immunology JI agreed to publish something about IgG evolution and nomenclature comparison among different species; JEB suggested that he would revitalize this.
Budapest, November 27, 2007. Imre Kacskovics
Official By-laws of the CIgW Committee
I. Duties and Tenure of Membership
A. Membership
Members who agree to serve on the
CIgW Committee (hereafter called the Committee) will do so for a term of not
less than six years. However, they may serve a longer term or be re-appointed
for a second term at a later time. Members are chosen on recommendation from
Committee members and the outside international immunological community. Their
duties are to include:
1. A willingness to serve as
chairperson, vice-chairperson or secretary if asked to do so. Special
circumstances are accepted as reasons for not assuming a Committee leadership
role.
2. A willingness to respond
rapidly to communications from the Committee chairperson/vice-chairperson and to
work closely with the leadership to resolve issues.
3. An effort to attend all
official business meetings and most workshops organized by the Committee.
4. An agreement to inform the
Committee in due time if the tenure of membership cannot be fulfilled and to
suggest an individual to complete the term.
II. Official Duties of Leadership
A. Chairperson
Is to be elected by the Committee membership to serve a term of not less than three years but not more than six. The duties of the chairperson include the following:
1. Maintain a regular exchange and discussion with the Committee by electronic or other forms of communication, regarding all matters of concern to the Committee.
2. Act as the presiding official at all formal meetings of the Committee.
3. Organize regular business meetings of the Committee or Special Workshops as needed in conjunction with international meetings.
4. Work closely with members of the Committee and the vice-chairperson to assure that updated information on immunoglobulins, immunoglobulin genes or Fc receptor is provided to the CIgW Webmaster.
5. Arrange for the regular replacement of members of the Committee on recommendations from the Committee and with consultations with others in the immunological community.
6. Maintain liaison with relevant immunological societies such as the Veterinary Immunology Committee (VIC), the International Union of Immunology Societies (IUIS), the British Society of Immunology and American Association of Immunologists (AAI).
B. Vice-Chairperson
Is to be elected by the Committee
to a minimum of three years and to be prepared to become chairperson after three
years. The duties of the vice-chairperson will include the following:
1. Take over the duties of the
chairperson if for any reason he/she is unable to do so.
2. Serve as the chief liaison
person to the VIC and other relevant international immunological organizations
and special committees. These include groups and committees concerned with
immunoglobulin nomenclature and reagent standardization.
3. Work with the chairperson, the
Committee, VIC and commercial or governmental groups to establish a budget for
the Committee and its proper use.
C. Secretary
To be appointed by mutual understanding, by the chairperson to prepare the minutes of all formal meetings of the CIgW Committee and provide them to the CIgW Webmaster.
III. Maintenance and Use of the CIgW Committee Budget
A. Source of funding
1. Relevant research organization
such as VIC, AAI or BSI
2. International agencies such as
NATO, the EU or the WHO
3. Veterinary and agricultural
branches in various countries such as the USDA
4. Private companies
5. International foundations
B. Use of CIgW Funding
1. Organization of workshops in
conjunction with international meetings not to cover travel.
2. Compensation to the
vice-chairperson and chairperson to attend meetings of important committees or
organizations that impact the role of the CIgW. Travel support for such
meetings must be agreed upon by the Committee.
3. Maintenance of the CIgW
Website.