We are excited to share with the membership a new initiative to rebrand the name of the society.
The History: The International Cytokine and Interferon Society, often called ICIS, was created in 2013 to unite and pay homage to the history and priorities of two organizations, the International Cytokine Society and the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research. The merger was highly successful, and in the ensuing 12 years our stature and footprint have grown impressively. This is a testament to the strength of the founder organizations and ongoing commitment of our members to participate and take leadership roles in the organization. The merger created something bigger and better than the sum of its parts.
In subsequent years the acronym ICIS has proven to have unforeseen limitations. We recognize that our Society’s purpose is to facilitate interactions and promote dissemination of information across the entire field – encompassing interleukins and interferons, as well as chemokines, pattern recognition receptors, growth factors, and other signaling paradigms. We also include the cells, receptor systems, and biomedical applications in health and disease. We believe name of the Society should capture that broader message. Most members already refer to us as “the Cytokine Society” and our conferences as “The Cytokine Meeting” or simply “Cytokines[year]”. Finally, the abbreviation ICIS does not rise to the top of search engines, and as an acronym carries potentially troublesome political connotations, both of which make it hard to establish an easily identifiable brand and distract from our mission.
The Proposal: Accordingly, the ICIS Council unanimously agreed that it is time to refresh our image and adopt the new name, “The Cytokine Society”. This new name satisfies the above concerns. It is distinct from the two founder organizations, and does not easily lend itself to an acronym, keeping our Cytokine “brand” front and center. This aligns well with terminology already in common use by our members. This name change also mitigates any confusion with similarly-abbreviated organizations. The international nature of our organization would be implicit by the use of “The” in the name and “The Cytokine Society” moniker is a simple and memorable name that captures all the areas of research and inquiry under our umbrella. A new logo will encompass this sentiment by pairing with a flexible and descriptive tagline, such as in the example shown here, though a final logo design will be developed at a later date.
The Process and Timeline:
We acknowledge that changing something as important as the name may trigger a sense of lost history. We propose this name change not in order to diminish any one group, but rather to be inclusive of our broader community.
In that spirit, the by-laws require an extended timeline to allow ample opportunity to engage in an open dialogue.
- In April 2025, the ICIS Council discussed the proposal to change the Society name and unanimously approved a motion to put the proposal forward for a vote by the Council.
- In July 2025, the ICIS Council voted unanimously to move the proposal forward to the membership.
- On November 5, 2025, at the annual members’ business meeting, the proposal is being presented with time allowed for open discussion and questions from the membership. We encourage ICIS members to consider this carefully and discuss among each other the implications of such a move.
- At the conclusion of the business meeting online voting will begin – and will remain open until 11:59pm on November 30, 2025.
This amendment requires a two-thirds majority of Members who cast votes to pass.
If approved, staff will initiate a process to seek member input on the logo and tagline, which will be launched in early 2026.
Members: Your ballot arrives Wednesday, November 5 in an email from Election Buddy. Check your inbox (and spam folder). Contact Stephanie Flores ([email protected]) if you do not receive it. Your voice matters in shaping our Society’s future.
