The French-Japanese Meeting "Immune Defenses in Humans and in Model Organisms" was held at the Embassy of France in Japan on September 20-21.

In the meeting, the various immunology fields such as innate immunity and immune therapy etc. were discussed. Japanese and French researchers have greatly contributed to the important progress in these fields. The immunologists who represented both countries at this event presented their high-level research results in a closed meeting.

From IFReC, Shizuo Akira, Shimon Sakaguchi and Tadamitsu Kishimoto (keynote speaker) were invited. Dr. Jules A. Hoffman, who is a 2011 Nobel Prize recipient, was among the participants from France. Dr. Hoffman and Director Akira were jointly awarded the Keio Medical Prize , Canada Gairdner Awards etc. in the past.

In the evening of Sep. 20th, Mr. Christian Masset, Ambassadeur de France au Japon hosted a reception to celebrate the symposium and Dr. Hoffman's visit to Japan. Using this unique opportunity, all the participants involved held active discussions on various topics.
(Photo & Report: Jun SAKANOUE)