On 13 May 2022, a joint symposium on Immunology between University College London (UCL) and Osaka University's Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) was held at UCL.

The first symposium was held at Osaka University (OU) on 20 June 2019 and the second one was scheduled for 2020. While the originally scheduled second symposium was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, it was finally held face-to-face this year.

The symposium began with opening remarks by Professor Hans Stauss, Director, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation of UCL. Researchers from UCL and OU took turns to present and discuss the latest research in immunology, including that related to COVID-19, to expand each other's knowledge.

The event was held at UCL and was also open to an audience of more than 70 people who listened to the researchers' presentations.

At the end of his presentation, Professor TAKEDA Kiyoshi, Director, IFReC, invited young researchers to participate in the upcoming 1st International School on Advanced Immunology (http://www.advanced-immunology.net/) to be held in November 2022.

UCL and OU have long been engaged in international exchange through mutual research discussions and as partners in international joint projects. We can expect continued collaboration beyond this symposium.