Immunology Education without Borders
Professor Gray and his co-authors Professor Dietrich Kabelitz and Dr Michelle Letarte are part of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) Education Committee (EDU). The committee endeavours to promote immunology education globally with a specific focus on low and low-to-middle income countries (LIC and LMIC).
To reach this goal, the EDU organizes three to four one-week courses per year in close cooperation with regional immunological societies and local organizers in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The faculty chosen for these course are both international and local experts known for their teaching prowess. The courses are very interactive with face-to-face time with faculty, poster sessions, exercises on writing a PhD or grant proposals and tips on how to become a successful scientist.
All IUIS-EDU courses also contain an online learning aspect, with a pre-course or during-course being set on Immunopaedia (www.immunopaedia.org.za). Immunopaedia is an open-source immunology education website that was conceived and launched by Prof Gray in 2005 and is IUIS-endorsed. As the participants are required to complete the online courses on Immunopaedia they are primed with the basic immunology knowledge their require optimising their participation in the IUIS course.
The IUIS courses themes are targeted to local health issues in each country which allows PhD students, post-doctoral, and early career scientists to have access to online resources and contact with experts in the field. The benefits and impact of the IUIS course and Immunopaedia online courses can be seen by the large number of young scientists connected via Immunopaedia, the networks forming in LIC and LMIC and new Immunological Societies being formed.
Read the paper - Immunology Education Without Borders