Joan founded her association management company in San Francisco in 1993 to support international scientific and medical societies, growing the company to 4 full-time employees by 2005 before moving to a virtual office in Germany with a mailing address in Sacramento, USA. Became the Managing Director of the International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS) in 2017 and the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP) in 2018, as well as managing a few related scientific meetings (Tularemia International Society, EBV Association and KSHV Workshop), with successful meetings planned in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, Hawaii, Chicago, Nice, Vienna, Athens, Paris, Dublin, Grenoble, Montréal, as well as Virtual & Hybrid Meetings.
Managing Diretor of the International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS) from late 2016 to the end of 2024. After eight years managing the ICIS, during which time membership grew from 600 to over 1,100, two endowments were established, and industry sponsorship expanded significantly to support prestigious awards and new initiatives, Joan made the decision to step down at the end of 2024 and her Co-Managing Director, Stephanie Flores, CAE took over management in 2025.
ICIS Awards:
2024 – ICIS-Joan Oefner Travel Award for Trainees: Named in honor of the International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS) retiring Managing Director, whose dedication drove the society’s growth. This award will carry her legacy forward by supporting future leaders in cytokine research. Source: https://cytokinesociety.org/joan-oefner-travel-award/
2020 ICIS Distinguished Service Award in recognition for extraordinary contributions and service to the ICIS and to the cytokine research community at large. Source: https://cytokinesociety.org/2020/09/28/2020-icis-distinguished-service-award/
2018: The International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP) joined Rhema just as the ICIS transition was getting starting at the start of 2018. The ISDP is an international organization founded in 1968 for the purpose of encouraging research on the development of behavior in all organisms including humans, with special attention to the effects of biological factors operating at any level of organization. Membership benefits include an online journal subscription to Developmental Psychobiology for all members and discounted registration to the annual meeting, which is normally preceding and co-located with the Annual Meeting of the Society of Neuroscience (SfN).
Past Clients Timeline:
1992: Joan started her company by taking over as the Executive Director of the SW Chapter, Society of Nuclear Medicine SWC, SNM (now the Southwestern Chapter of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging SWC-SNMMI) from her former boss, Justine Jean Parker, who was also managing the International Society of Analytical Cytology (ISAC) (now the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry ISAC) and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) from her office in San Francisco.
1993: Six month after that she would become the first Executive Director for the North American Society for Cardiovascular Imaging (NASCI), a society in its 3rd decade that was in decline but about to experience a revitalization of the field of Cardiac Imaging by taking the initiative in cardiac MRI. She established a formal office and hired her first employee, laying the foundation for growth. NASCI remains the leading multi-disciplinary, multi-modality society for the advancement of Cardiovascular Imaging, incorporating radiologists, cardiologists, physicists and industry representatives.
1995: A few years later, Rhema assumed management of the California Separation Science Society (CaSSS) (now CASSS, an International Separate Science Society), a nearly insolvent organization of analytical biochemists based in Silicon Valley. Under Rhema’s guidance, CASSS underwent a transformation, beginning with the launch of a highly successful new meeting, Well Characterized Biotechnology Pharmaceuticals (WCBP), now in its 29th year. The continued success of WCBP, along with the development of associated interest groups, helped evolve CASSS into a global community uniting industry, academic, and regulatory professionals committed to advancing biopharmaceutical development and delivery.
Society for Molecular Imaging (SMI) Executive Director, August 2002 – December 2006 (they moved to Germany with Joan in 2005) – Joan Oefner was appointed as the founding Executive Director of the newly established Society for Molecular Imaging (SMI) (now the World Molecular Imaging Society WMIS) a forum for the development of new molecular imaging agents and approaches for different imaging modalities and their applications to more basic, preclinical research. Although there was a complimentary Society (the Academy of Molecular Imaging AMI) formed in parallel, the AMI focused on the clinical utility of novel molecular imaging, primarily PET. The SMI quickly gained momentum, driven by significant excitement around the potential of multimodal in vivo imaging in patient care. Joan played a pivotal role in establishing the Society’s foundation and reputation, overseeing membership and meeting growth to over 1,200 researchers and some clinicians, while fostering strong partnerships with industry stakeholders eager to support this emerging interdisciplinary field.
San Francisco Neurological Society (SFNS) Executive Director from 2002 – 2005 – The San Francisco Neurological Society continues to be an important part of Bay Area neurological and neurosurgical activity, both at Stanford, UCSF and UC Davis, as well as surrounding institutions and especially for those in private practice. The SFNS is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA) to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.
Future: Expansion of the Team –Hannah Oefner is a rising professional in the field of association management, bringing a strong foundation in business and marketing to Rhema Association Management LLC, a family-owned firm she has been preparing to join since 2020. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Entrepreneurship & Tourism at MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® in Innsbruck, Austria, with graduation expected in September 2025. Hannah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from FH Kufstein Tirol – University of Applied Sciences, completed in July 2023, which included a paid internship in association management at the Vienna Medical Academy GmbH. Her academic background and hands-on experience uniquely position her to contribute to the strategic growth and operational excellence of Rhema’s client partnerships.
Hannah specializes in Social Media, Marketing & Communications, AI Tools, Graphic Design, Online Membership, Online Abstracts and Registration. We’re both excited about what lies ahead, because in this field, two really are better than one. As the African proverb wisely says: “If you want to go fast…go alone. If you want to go far…go together”
Event Assistant – Internship
- Event Assistant –
- Check in Agent – I nnsbruck, Tyrol, Austria
Education
- Pepperdine Graziadio Business School –
- MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® –
- FH Kufstein Tirol – University of Applied Sciences –
Click here to view Joan’s CV
CURRENT & RECENT Managing Director clients:
From December 2016 – December 2024 International Cytokine & Interferon Society (formerly ISICR and ICS), Joan, and her Virtual Office, replaced the staff at the FASEB campus in Bethesda, MD which had managed the ISICR and then the merged society since 1996. Membership subsequently grew from 600 – 1,100 international members across different research disciplines, with annual meeting participation ranging from 750 – 1,050 participants. ICIS is the premier organization promoting the field of cytokine biology, impacting all aspects of medicine and leading to new treatments in autoimmune diseases, cancer, infectious diseases and inflammation. Please visit the society’s websites designed by Rhema Association Management:
www.signals.cytokinesociety.org
www.athens.cytokinesociety.org
www.hawaii.cytokinesociety.org
www.interferonlambda.cytokinesociety.org
www.cardiff.cytokinesociety.org
www.boston.cytokinesociety.org
Awards:
2024: New Student/Postdoc Travel Award Named after Retiring Managing Director, Joan Oefner READ MORE
2020 ICIS Distinguished Service Award goes to ICIS Managing Director, Joan Saluzzi-Oefner READ MORE
Since December 2017 – International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP), Joan’ Virtual Office took over the management and Annual Meeting organization. Please visit the website we designed for more information: www.isdp.org. The first order of business was to set up a fully integrated, responsive online association management system using www.i4a.com for membership, meeting registration, abstract submission, and awards applications. We are using OxfordAbstracts for the online abstracts, program, attendee networking and ePosters (soon to be included in the i4a membership/registration system for a single sign-on fully integrated database). The International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP) is an international non-profit organization which encourages research on the development of behavior in all organisms including man, with special attention to the effects of biological factors operating at any level of organization. The society holds annual meetings to facilitate communication of research results and theory in the area of Developmental Psychobiology. The ISDP strongly supports and encourages young scientists with travel awards, networking and meeting events designed specifically for the students.
Planning the annual meeting and providing society management for this newly formed corporation, the Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV) and Related Agents Association, Inc., an international non-profit organization (501 c 3 application pending), established for the purpose of promoting research related to KSHV, a cancer-causing herpesvirus, and related viruses by bringing researchers together once a year to share developments leading to discovery of new and better approaches for treating and preventing malignancies or lymphoproliferative disorders, including Kaposi’s sarcoma, pleural effusion lymphoma, multicentric Castleman’s disease, and an inflammatory disorder, KSHV-inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS).
Tularemia International Society (TULISOC) – The interest and the increasing need for communication, exchange of experience and materials, and training in diagnostics and research methods has led to the idea of creating an international scientific society focusing on Tularemia.
Under the umbrella and with active participation of WHO, a group of scientists at the 6th International Conference on Tularemia held at Charité, Berlin, from 13 to 16 September 2009 established the a non-profit organization: TULAREMIA INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY – with the abbreviations TULISOC. The society is incorporated in the USA as a 501 c 3 not-for-profit charity with the tax ID number: 81-4335992.
PAST CONFERENCES:
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