Sharing Knowledge With Young and Established Students of Immunology by the Neapolitan Gulf at the Ruggero Ceppellini Advanced School

In his Origin, Charles Darwin led the foundations to debunk the long-held belief that man and animals derive from separate lineages, landing the final blow in The Descent of Man. The discovery in the mid-1980's that fertilized mammal eggs must have male components to generate healthy offspring had similarly dramatic consequences on other religious beliefs, as discussed in “Genetics: immaculate misconception” (1). In the Catholic calendar, the 8th of December is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The occasion was celebrated with loud fireworks cracking during the second night of the 25th course of the EFIS-EJI Ruggero Ceppellini Advanced School of Immunology, held at Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, 7th−9th December 2014. A faculty of 13 gathered together with 60 attendants from 19 countries to discuss the theme Maternal Immune System in Pregnancy. While the conclusions of the course were not quite as dramatic as Darwin's and Surani's, new exciting concepts were discussed that had already emerged at a previous meeting held in Cambridge in 2013 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Peter Medawar's famous article on the “immunological paradox” of pregnancy (2). I had the honor of directing both events, together with Ashley Moffett, and learned a great deal. This brief article is a report on the activities during that 25th course, as well as an opportunity to celebrate the importance of the Ceppellini School to connect young immunologists with leader scientists in their fields, as well as to spur new collaborations. With the generous support of the EFIS-EJI, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the International Union of Immunological Societies, a record number of travel fellowships was offered to 13 participants from African countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Gabon, and Cameroon. This was appropriate because it is in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that maternal morbidity and mortality is highest due to pregnancy complications, such as the hypertensive disorder of pregnancy pre-eclampsia, still birth or intrauterine growth restriction (3).