HISTORY

The idea of bringing together basic scientists and clinicians in the field of ORL in an Academic environment was initiated nearly 30 years ago. The first International Academic Conferences took place in Utrecht, the Netherlands (1984 and 1986), organized by J Veldman and E Huizing, mainly focusing on Immunobiology, Autoimmunity, Transplantation and newly developed techniques in experimental Rhinology and Tumorimmunology. Subsequent meetings were organized in San Diego, U.S.A. (1990) under the guidance of Brian F. McCabe and Jeffrey Harris, in Oita, Japan (1994) - organized by the late Goro Mogi, Siena, Italy (1998), hosted by Desiderio Passali, Jeju Island, South-Korea (2002), organized by Hee Nam Kim and In Yong Park and most recently in Melbourne, Australia (2006) hosted and organized very succesfully by Stephen O'Leary.

Although it started with the main focus on immunobiology, later on molecular biology was added. Today a more appropriate and inclusive title would be Translational research. Within this context the forthcoming Conference is organized in Malaga, Spain, this year.

As founder of these Academic Conferences, I am very pleased that they have survived three decades.

em. Prof. Dr. Jan E. Veldman
the Netherlands