ISAR's President’s MAY 2025 MESSAGE
It’s almost hard to remember that only five years ago, we were in the midst of a global pandemic. Our society was not an exception, with so many of our members redirecting their efforts to SARS-CoV-2; we should be thankful to all who got involved and put such an incredible effort into eventually managing the pandemic.
Because of COVID-19, the 2020 33rd ICAR had to be canceled at the last moment and replaced by a series of online webinars. The 34th ICAR was held remotely in 2021 during world-wide lockouts. In 2022, we held the 35th ICAR in Seattle, to fulfill contractual obligations from the previous cancelled meeting. The 2023 meeting (36th ICAR) was originally scheduled to be held in Australia, but due to the uncertainties of world travel it was preventively re-located to Lyon. It was the first post-pandemic meeting, and a resounding success with almost 450 attendees in person or virtual. The 2024 meeting (37th ICAR) was held in Australia fulfilling the Society’s goal of having a presence in the Asia-Pacific region and was also a great success with about 275 attendees in person or virtual, including many first-time attendees from the region.
The cancelation of the 2020 meeting, the online 2021 meeting, and efforts to keep costs to a minimum to re-engage past members and reach new ones, together with the financial woes and market losses through the pandemic, all had a major impact on ISAR finances. Through major efforts to keep the meeting as affordable as possible while addressing budgetary needs and thanks to the great generosity of our sponsors, we have managed to weather the storm and keep the long-term financial standing of the society on solid ground. It was not easy, and we recognize the ISAR Presidents through the COVID-19 crisis, Drs. Neyts, Carter, and Seley-Radtke, the Chairs of the financial and conference sponsors committees, Drs Ptak, Durantel, and Gowen, and all members of the BOD and the local organizing committees for helping ISAR maintain this financial stability.
We just finished the 38th ICAR meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada – which was another success, with almost 300 in-person attendees, including another large contingent of first time participants. Most critically, we produced a balanced budget without compromising the scientific scope or creating high financial barriers for attendees. We thank the program committee Chair, David Durantel, and committee members including Katherine Seley-Radtke, Brian Gowen, Jessica Spengler, Andrea Brancale, Jinhong Chang, Brian Gentry, Joana Rocha Pereira, Richard Whitley, Rhonda Cardin, and Chris Meier, together with all members of the BOD, including Angela Corona, Cybele Garcia, Zlatko Janeba, for this successful meeting.
Beyond the annual meetings, the Society has continued to continually improve and strengthen the society for its members, in several important areas: we revised the By-Laws, which were reviewed and approved by members with almost 98% support; we developed a Code of Conduct and are developing Conflicts of Interest guidelines; and we have strengthened and formalized our relationship with our Society Journal, Antiviral Research (AVR). As part of this relationship, and spearheaded by the Publications committee, co-chaired by Rob Jordan and Jessica Spengler, ISAR has started publishing Op/Ed articles in AVR discussing the issues that affect antiviral research and development. We welcome your ideas, suggestions, and proposed topics for future Op/Ed articles.
We are also looking at the future. In just two years, ISAR will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Our publications and archiving committees have already started preparing for the fourth decade booklet, to continue documenting our Society and its successes in fostering antiviral research for the benefit of all human beings. We are scouting venues for upcoming meetings and developing guidance for selecting venues with the continuous goal of promoting and advancing antiviral research throughout the world for the benefit of all while maintaining the Society’s budgetary discipline. We are also updating the Society Awards, with the introduction of the Alice Ball ISAR Award in 2026. Please see the ISAR Awards page for updated information on this and all other ISAR Awards.
But let’s not forget that despite the past successes against and during COVID-19, there are challenges ahead. Your Society will continue working for you, the members, to do our best to overcome all challenges, for the benefit of all people.
As a proud ISAR member, and its current President, I am looking forward already to our Society’s fifth decade, with its continuous positive impact on antiviral discovery, research, development, evaluation, and use for the benefit of all human beings.
Regards,
Luis M Schang
President, ISAR