eati.mission statement

The European Academy of Tumor Immunology (eati, official website: www.euroacadti.eu) has been founded in 2011 with the idea of creating a novel organization that responds to the need of structuring the European research space in this expanding, clinically ever more important area of research. Rapidly, this initiative, which regroups (part of) the elite of tumor immunologists, has been joined by numerous scientists, who accepted to support eati as founding members. Obviously, eati will not enter in competition with existing prestigious organizations, be they supranational (such as the Cancer Research Institute, CRI; the European Society for Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, ESCII; and the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer, SITC), or national [such as the Cancer Immunology Working Group, CIMM, of the American Association for Cancer Reserch; the (German) Association for Cancer Immunotherapy, CIMT; the (US) Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium, CIC; the (US) Cancer Vaccine Consortium, CVC; and the Italian Network for Cancer Biotherapy, NIBIT]. The choice of cooperation (rather than competition) with these organizations is clearly documented by the fact that many prominent members of CIMM, CIC, CIMT, CRI, CVC, ESCII, NIBIT and SITC are also eati.academicians.

bridging fields

Eati engages in all areas of tumor immunology, considered as a continuum between fundamental, translational and clinical research, as well as the practical implementation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in routine clinical practice. Indeed, eati considers that even the most fundamental aspects of immunology and (cancer) cell biology require further in depth investigation to launch the next wave of conceptual insights. It may take several decades to apply a basic discovery in the clinics, as exemplified by the time that elapsed from the discoveries of monoclonal antibodies, dendritic cells and papilloma virus to their application in clinical oncology. Although this time frame certainly deters the pharmaceutical and biotechnical industries—bound to short-term vision – from investing in basic science, eati believes that basic—research constitutes one of the best investments that public administrations can effectuate to ameliorate patient care in the future including in the area of cancer immunotherapy. Obviously, eati does not neglect the translational and clinical aspect of tumor immunology. Indeed, eati will be one of the protagonists of the yet-to-be-created European Network for Cancer Immunotherapy (ENCI), which will launch several multicenter trials on in Europe.

bridging continents

In spite of the appearance of its name, eati is not an exclusively European organization. Close to half of its founding members are from other continents, from the Americas, from Asia and from Australia. This matter of fact illustrates the efforts of eati to act as an intercontinental, global organization that pursues its goals without any local patriotism. Our common enemies are the dominant characteristics of the abysmally anti-scientific society that surrounds us, in all countries on this globe: superficial hedonism, facile consumerism, immoral profit-seeking and political shortsightness. So, it is our moral obligation to pool our energy, knowledge and resources to publicize our vision and to convince policy makers, public administrations, industrial partners and health care professionals that tumor immunology has a huge potential for the prevention and treatment of neoplastic diseases.

bridging generations

The founding members of eati have made essential contributions to tumor immunology (and three among them actually won the Nobel prize), meaning that they (mostly) attained the second half of their life expectancy. Notwithstanding this accumulated experience, eati is aware of the necessity to stimulate and educate the next generation of tumor immunologists. In collaboration with the “LabEx Immuno-Oncology” (a network of laboratories specialized in tumor immunology that is sponsored by the French Government), eati will sponsor several educational graduate student programs in Paris, support graduate and post-doctoral researchers working in the Paris area, launch a seminar series on the immunotherapy of cancer in Paris and hold (at least one) annual meeting that will give educational credits to PhD students. Although these programs are right now limited to Paris, eati plans to extend these efforts across Europe via its cooperation with the European Federation of Immunology Societies (EFIS) and the European Academy of Cancers Sciences (EACS). These educational activities will be publicized in part via OncoImmunology, which is the official eati.journal.

acknowledgments and legal notice

eati is s an association regulated by the french law 1901 and is sponsored by the LabEx Immuno-Oncology