The International Society for Vaccines

Linda S. Klavinskis, PhD (ISV President, 2024-2025)
Professor of Viral Immunology, Department of Infectious Diseases, King’s College London.

President’s End-of-Term Report (Jan. 2024 – Dec. 2025)

As the 2024–2025 presidential term comes to a close, I am delighted to celebrate a period of growth, achievement, and global impact for the International Society for Vaccines (ISV), and thank all who were involved in contributing to these successes and to our members who actively engaged in ISVs activities to advance vaccine science worldwide.

It has been a great honour to serve as the President and to work alongside such an inspiring, dedicated, and passionate global community.
My term has been defined by new initiatives, global collaboration, and a shared commitment to excellence, guided by the missions I set out in January 2024 to advance our society and strengthen its global impact. Here’s a snapshot of what we have achieved together:

1. Expanding ISV’s Scientific Activities.

We successfully launched monthly vaccine science webinars and quarterly themed mini-symposia, engaging members beyond our Annual Congress. These sessions showcased topics from mechanistic vaccinology to clinical trials and vaccine manufacturing and brought together leading experts worldwide. Importantly, by making all sessions available on the ISV YouTube channel, we extended the reach and impact of our science, ensuring ongoing access for members across the globe.

2. Expanding ISV’s Global Outreach and Inclusivity.
Another important success of this term was the strengthening of ISV’s Global Partnerships and Organizational Foundations, led by Dr Shan Lu (Worchester HIV). Through enhanced collaboration with international vaccine organizations and societies (e.g., International AIDS Society, International Vaccine Institute, IVVN, VITAL-Korea, Butantan Institute and more), ISV expanded joint programming, co-hosted scientific sessions, and increased its visibility within the global vaccine ecosystem.

The 2025 ISV Annual Congress in Stellenbosch, South Africa likewise represented a major milestone as the Society’s first Annual Congress on the African continent. This achievement underscored ISV’s commitment to geographic inclusivity and global representation in vaccine science. The introduction of an Africa Day Satellite Meeting organised by Dr Ed Rybicki (University of Cape Town) and Dr Neil Almond (MHRA, UK) further strengthened regional engagement by highlighting locally driven research, manufacturing, and implementation efforts, while fostering meaningful dialogue between African and global vaccine stakeholders.

ISV Members:

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ISV Upcoming Events

ISV NextGen January 2026 Webinar

January 8, 2026 @ 4:00 am - 5:00 am

ISV January 2026 Webinar

January 14, 2026 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Visit HERE

ISV News & Insights

ISV December Webinar Recording Now Available!

Missed our December webinar? You can now watch the full recording on our YouTube channel.

Vaccines in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.

Rino Rappuoli, Biotecnopolo di Siena Foundation, Italy

Access the recording here.

December 2025 – ISV Paper of the Month

We are pleased to present our December Paper of the Month: “Assessing AI’s cognitive abilities for scientific discovery in the field of systems vaccinology” by Lucie Rodriguez-Coffinet, Dmitri Kazmin & Bali Pulendran, published in Science Immunology.

Africa Day Satellite Meeting Highlights Regional Vaccine Initiatives

A crucial Africa Day Satellite Meeting spotlighted initiatives aimed at strengthening vaccine protection in Africa, for Africa. More Info…

ISV 2025 Annual Congress
Bright Sparks and Poster Presenter Awards

Congratulations to all winner!

More Info…

Bright Sparks in Vaccinology – PhD Oral Presenter Session  

1st – Jack Saunders, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
2nd – Dylan Kairuz, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
3rd – Arturo Linan-Torres, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

Bright Sparks in Vaccinology – ECR Oral Presenter Session  

1st - Nicholas Tursi, The Wistar Institute, USA
2nd – Juan Garcia-Bernalt Diego, Centro de investigación Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Spain
3rd – Claire Otero, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA

Poster Presenter PhD Category 

1st – Raphael Kamng’ona, MRC Unit at LSHTM
2nd – Chinedu Anthony Iwu, IMO STATE UNIVERSITY/TEACHING HOSPITAL
Joint 3rd – Giovanna de Brito Carneiro, Instituto Butantan
Joint 3rd – Nelisa Makeleni, University of Cape Town
Joint 3rd – Rhoda Namakula, University of Bergen
Joint 3rd – Natalie Nel, University of Cape Town

Poster Presenter ECR Category 

1st - Faiaz Shaik Abdool,Africa Health Research Institute
2nd – Trésor Zola Matuvanga, Université de Kinshasa
Joint 3rd – Christine Bulaon, Baiya Phytopharm Co., Ltd.
Joint 3rd – Henning Jacobsen, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

2025 ISV Congress Awards

The 2025 ISV Congress celebrated the achievements of leading scientists and contributors in the field of vaccines.

Congratulations to all awardees!

2025 ISV Fellow Awards

Dr Danilo Casimiro, Sanofi, USA
Professor Baik-Lin Seong, Yonsei University, South Korea

The ISV Fellow Award recognises exceptional contributions to the field of vaccines. More info…

2025 Stanley Plotkin Lecture

Dr Linda-Gail Bekker, Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, University of Cape Town, South Africa,

Stanley Plotkin Lecture: Named in honor of vaccine pioneer Dr. Stanley A. Plotkin, this distinguished lecture is a highlight of the ISV Annual Congress. More info…

2025 ISV Paper of the Year Award

Dr. Alec W. Freyn, Moderna

Awarded for the paper “Comparison of protection against mpox following mRNA or modified vaccinia Ankara vaccination in nonhuman primates” published in Cell.