Sign in to access your HIS profile below.
On 19 May, at BMA House in London, we were thrilled to welcome over 100 attendees to a very special celebration event marking the 40th anniversary of the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) and the Journal of Hospital Infection (JHI).
Rescheduled from June 2020, this event celebrated the achievements of the Society and the JHI and looked forward to the future. The programme included presentations from speakers who reviewed the last 40 years, and looked to current and likely challenges posed by healthcare-associated infections in the years ahead. Our thanks go to Dr David Shanson, Dr Susan Hopkins, Dr Bob Spencer. Dr Julian Sutton, Dr Jim Gray, Professor Sharon Peacock, Professor Peter Wilson, Martin Kiernan, Professor Peter Davey, Jennifer Bostock, Dr Elaine Cloutman-Green, Professor Mark Wilcox, Professor Jean-Yves Maillard and Professor Cath Noakes for inspiring and very entertaining presentations.
For most of the attendees it was the first time they had seen friends and colleagues since before the pandemic, and for many it was the first meeting for decades!
No celebration event would be complete without a gift for the attendees, and all those who were present on the day received both a limited edition hard copy of the Society’s history book Healthcare Infection Society: Forty Years and Counting, and commemorative pin. Those members of the Society who have made an extra special contribution received a gold badge, and only 60 of these will ever be in circulation. You can read the digital version of Healthcare Infection Society: Forty Years and Counting here.
Professor Barry Cookson produced a slideshow and a video that were on display in the exhibition area, alongside a collection of books bequeathed to the Society by founder member Bill Newsom, an example of the HIS Gold Medal and photographs and other materials from the Society’s past. The exhibition also included a curated display of original artworks from Anna Dumitriu, and delegates contributed to the Ex Voto piece.
Finally, we concluded the special event with a celebration dinner at The Bloomsbury.
Our appreciation goes once again to all of our members who have made the past 40 (plus two...) years such a pleasure. Finally, on behalf of the Society huge thanks are due to the 40th Anniversary Scientific Programme Committee, speakers, chairs and delegates, many of whom were founding members.
You can read an overview of the event from HIS President Hilary Humphreys, JHI Editor in Chief Nik Mahida and HIS Editorial Manager Christine Fears here.
Click here to open a slideshow of images from the event on Flickr
1. Video showing footage from BBC Newsnight (1988); BBC Panorama (1996); PLHS Surveillance: not just a search for infection (1993); and clips from HIS Foundation Course lectures.
2. Slideshow from the HIS 40th Anniversary Event.