International Society for antiviral research

Dear ISAR Members,

It has been a true pleasure and honor to serve as President of ISAR. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, we had to cancel what would have been a very exciting ICAR. As many of you are now aware, the invited speakers for Seattle will be featured this fall in a series of webinars. Please stay tuned for additional details.

Now that I come to the end of my term, it is my great pleasure to pass the office to my dear friend and colleague Kara Carter. I can assure you all that the Society will be in the best possible hands.  No words can express my appreciation for all your hard work Kara during the past two years.  It has been a true honor and pleasure to work in tandem with you (or to use a phrasing from our field “in strong synergism”). I look forward to continuing to support ISAR and working with the president, president-elect and the Board of Directors.

I wish to also recognize and extend a warm thank you to the outgoing board members for their dedication and service to ISAR over the past several years. José Esté who now transitions from past president to past-past president and Jennifer Moffat who comes to the end of her term on the board. Thank you both for all your efforts and dedication, we trust that the society can also in the future count on you.

I am excited to congratulate and warmly welcome Kathie Seley-Radtke, who was elected as president-elect. Thank you already now Kathie for your enthusiasm and drive.   A warm welcome  also to our two new board members María-Jesús Pérez-Pérez and Subhash Vasudevan. It feels really good to have three such very capable people on the leadership on the society.

As always, feel free to reach out to any of the board members with your thoughts and ideas.  We welcome your feedback and involvement in the Society. 

Finally, the current pandemic made it crystal clear how important antiviral drugs are; not only against coronaviruses, but against many other families of viruses as well.   The world will count more than ever on experts in antiviral drug research and development.  ISAR will have to play, as it did on the past, a prominent role in the battle against viruses.

Thank you and kind regards,

Johan Neyts
Past President, ISAR

26 June 2019