06 March 2026

SIgN 20^th Anniversary Symposium and Dinner: A Celebration of 20 years of SIgN-tific Excellence

On 6^th March 2026, SIgN proudly celebrated our 20^th year anniversary milestone with a full-day symposium, culminating in a memorable gala dinner!

The symposium brought together leading scientists, collaborators and SIgN-ites for a day of insightful lectures – reflecting on two decades of groundbreaking immunology research and looking ahead at the future of biomedical innovation.

Our programme featured key immunological research areas, kicking off with Maternal-Offspring Immunity, followed by Inflammation and Autoimmunity, Cancer Immunotherapy, and lastly capping off the symposium with our keynote lecture from Prof Ulrich H. von Andrian, on inflammation and cancer.

Notably, as highlighted by SIgN’s and Gustave Roussy’s Prof. Florent Ginhoux, beyond our scientific breakthroughs, SIgN has also driven innovation in research tools. Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection, or UMAP, was first applied to biological data by SIgN, as a powerful tool for analysing high-dimensional datasets. It has since transformed how scientists visualise single-cell data, deepening insights into immune cell ontogeny and function.

We extend our deepest appreciation to our distinguished speakers: Prof. Tiffany Scharschmidt, Dr. Wu Wei, Dr. Meera Shenoy, Asst. Prof. Chen Kaiwen, Asst. Prof. Franklin Zhong, Assoc. Prof. Zhang Yongliang, Dr. Rong En Tay, Assoc. Prof. Deng Pan, Prof. Fabienne Mackay, Assoc. Prof. Andrea Low, Prof. Florent Ginhoux, Assoc. Prof. Valerie Chew – and of course, our keynote speaker Prof. Ulrich H. von Andrian. Your contributions made this milestone symposium truly impactful!

As our former chairman Philip Yeo often reminded us, innovation requires boldness and vision. His MAD COW philosophy – Make a Difference, Change our World – continues to inspire SIgN’s spirit of discovery. It is this drive to nurture talent, invest in research, and challenge convention that has shaped our journey over the past two decades and will continue to guide us into the future.

As we celebrate 20 years of SIgN, we look forward to continuing our mission of advancing immunology research and fostering collaborations that push the boundaries of science. Thank you to everyone who joined us in commemorating this special occasion. Here’s to the next 20 years of SIgN-tific excellence!

#SIgN20th #SIgNCentreForExcellence