A Personal Reflection on the IUIS 2025 Congress in Vienna – Doudou Georges Massar Niang
Doudou Georges Massar Niang
My journey to the IUIS 2025 Congress began on August 16th, 2025, with my arrival in Vienna. From the moment I left the airport, the stunning Austrian landscape provided a breathtaking backdrop that immediately gave me the intuition that this would be a truly exceptional scientific event. Eager to begin, I proceeded directly to the Austria Centre Vienna to collect my conference badge and finalise my registration in preparation for the Pre-Congress Master Class series scheduled for the following day.
The Master Class on August 17th featured a rich and stimulating program. I was particularly captivated by the translational immunology session, which included a compelling lecture from Sergey Deyev on the recent advances in the use of radionuclides for cancer therapy. However, the most exhilarating presentation was delivered by Massoud Vosough, who proposed a rather revolutionary shift in our approach to treating cancer. His central thesis was that a cancer cell’s plasticity—a direct consequence of its immature, stem cell-like state—is a primary mechanism enabling it to evade immunotherapy. The provocative and elegant solution he presented was to force these cells to undergo maturation, thereby reducing their plasticity and making them significantly more susceptible to immune attack.
Following this excellent prelude, the main congress commenced on August 18th. The scientific program was so rich and the parallel sessions so compelling that I wished for the ability to be in multiple places at once. The first day began with the Early Career Committee Satellite Symposium, where I gained invaluable insights into the funding schemes offered by the European Research Council. I subsequently had the honour of representing the Senegalese Society of Immunology at the IUIS General Assembly. This meeting was particularly significant as we elected three new African representatives to the IUIS council: Clive Gray, Abdallah Badou, and Sabel Jallow.
The official opening ceremony was nothing short of inspirational. The atmosphere was electric, and the keynote address by Miriam Merad truly transcended the audience. She delivered a powerful message on the challenges facing science and immunology in an era of significant political change, issuing a clarion call for scientists to persevere and fight back with the robust tool of scientific discovery itself.
Doudou Georges Massar Niang, Mara Grace Chibwana, Joseph Phiri, Raphael Kamng’ona
The IUIS 2025 Congress served as a premier platform for disseminating cutting-edge science and innovative concepts. For me, the sessions dedicated to artificial intelligence in immunology represented a culminating point. The talk by Christoph Bock was profoundly thought-provoking. He explained a biological principle akin to “use it or lose it,” whereby the body optimises resources by dedicating them to processes that are actively used. He then introduced a platform named CellWhisperer, designed to allow researchers to interact with and query their single-cell sequencing data intuitively. While he demonstrated the immense efficiency gains from leveraging AI for data analysis, he also inadvertently prompted a critical introspection: by relying so heavily on AI, are we, as scientists, risking the loss of our own fundamental analytical skills, embodying the very principle he described?
Martin Guilliams gave another mind-expanding presentation on the final day. His talk, titled “AI in Immunology: how to predict and model immune activation in vivo?” was memorable for its conviction. To emphasise the transformative power of AI, he staked a bold personal bet on a specific hypothesis, a dramatic gesture that underscored his immense confidence in the predictive power of his AI-driven models. He demonstrated how his team, through the combination of CRISPR screening and advanced AI, achieved an unprecedented, in-depth description of the molecular networks governing Kupffer cell differentiation.
Matar Khan, Mustapha Jaiteh and Doudou Georges Massar Niang
Beyond the outstanding lectures and scientific exchanges, the congress provided a vital platform for global networking and collaboration. I had the pleasure of connecting with immunologists from across the world, including Gambia, Iran, Peru, Uganda, Canada, France, Austria, Malawi, and Morocco. It was an opportunity to reunite with old friends and establish new, meaningful collaborations. Furthermore, the cultural experience in Vienna was unparalleled. I was able to travel into the past by attending a magnificent Mozart opera and by walking through the historic halls of the Hofburg and Schönbrunn Imperial palaces, making this congress not only a scientific milestone but also a profoundly enriching personal journey.
Article by – Doudou Georges Massar Niang
