On behalf of the organizers, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the International Symposium on Microbiology and Immunology (The 12th International Symposium of IFReC). This symposium is co-organized with the Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, the project for "Self-referential immune perception (Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas, JSPS) ", and Osaka International Conference Center.
Centering on basic research achievements relating to microbiology and immunology, this symposium consists of 11 lectures by world-leading scientists. It is our hope the active participation in this symposium of not only university researchers but also private-industry researchers and clinical researchers will promote collaboration among them in the future.
We would like to extend our gratitude to all participants and hope that this symposium will be a significant opportunity for you to share ideas and expertise for further development of microbiology, immunology, and life science.

Kiyoshi Takeda
Director, Professor
Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), Osaka University