Joan Oefner

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 and specializing in management of European Workshops & Symposia. 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, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Hawaii and Chicago in the USA as well as in Vienna, Cologne, Athens, Paris, Nice, Grenoble and Dublin in Europe, and Cardiff, UK. During and since the COViD-19 pandemic, we have organized well attended Virtual & Hybrid Meetings.

Joan Oefner was honored with the 2020 ICIS Distinguished Service Award in recognition for her extraordinary contributions and service to the ICIS and to the cytokine research community at large. At Cytokines 2024 in Seoul, Joan was honored with a named ICIS Student/Postdoc Member Travel Award.

In-Person Travel Award Winners ISDP 2021 Hybrid Meeting (220 attendees in Chicago, 287 on the Virtual Platform). Total registration of 507 participants was an all time record! Membership, especially Early-Career and Student, increased substantially as well.
Joan Oefner ICIS Travel Award
Newly established ICIS-Joan Oefner Travel Award for trainees attending the Cytokines Annual Meeting
Joan Oefner is honored with the 2020 ICIS Distinguished Service award in recognition for her extraordinary contributions and service to the ICIS and to the cytokine research community at large
CAE designation obtained in November 1998.
A virtual Joan Oefner at the Cytokines 2022 Hybrid Meeting Virtual Exhibit Booth