On behalf of the Conference Organising Committee, welcome to the 39th Annual meeting of Australasian Society for Immunology ! The ASI meeting traditionally combines a stellar scientific program with social events that encourage debate, new collaborations and the opportunity to renew old friendships. Student members are very important to the society, so there are a number of events that encourage their participation and interaction with more senior colleagues, including a party in the tallest residential tower in the world, Q1, on Tuesday night (see the registration desk if you don’t have a ticket yet). This year, many of the students will have attended the 10th ASI/ Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania Advanced Immunology Training Course, held on Moreton Island just prior to the meeting, at which several of our international and local speakers were faculty. A vibrant society naturally has some very active sub-specialities, and the Special Interest Group satellite symposia preceding the meeting on Sunday allow a flexible format for presentations and discussion of specific topics. For the first time, this year the Infection and Immunity SIG joins the Mucosal Immunology and Tumour Immunology SIGs in holding workshops. The rest of the meeting follows a familiar format, but of special interest this year is an extended symposium on Systems Biology, organised by our opening plenary speaker, Chris Goodnow.
The venue for the meeting is one of Australia’s premier tourist destinations, so we hope that you also find time to sample the beaches and local mountain scenery while you are here. The conference dinner will be held poolside at Jupiters, and beachwear is optional – life guards will be on duty!
The enormous interest in this meeting, judged by early registration numbers and the response of sponsors, is testament to the vitality of the immunological community in Australasia. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking our sponsors, invited speakers and chairs, and guests for their support, and my fellow committee members and ASN events for all their dedicated work in organising this meeting. I hope you all find it both rewarding and enjoyable.

Chris Schmidt,
Chair, Organising Committee ASI 2009