100th J Project Meeting – 2014

The J Project physician education and clinical research collaboration program was conceived in Debrecen, Hungary and became a reality on March 12, 2004, in Targu Mures, Romania. Thus, this meeting will be not only the 100thJ Project meeting, but also an occasion to celebrate, with our colleagues and friends in the field, the 10th anniversary of the J Project.

Over the past 10 years we have made every effort to improve the care of patients with primary immunodeficiencies and clinical research in this field in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe (ECE). The vision of the Debrecen J Project Center was no less than the harmonization of professional activities in the field of PIDs in Europe and the equalization of patient care between Western and Eastern Europe, eradicating the differences between these two parts of the continent arising from their heterogeneous backgrounds and economic circumstances, an unfair consequence of history.

The J Project program has made remarkable progress, reaching many milestones and increasing the number of patients with inborn errors of immunity diagnosed and treated. We hope to extend the success of this wonderful program into the next decade, with the particular aim of establishing self-managed PID gene sequencing at all PID centers in ECE. This evolution of the program, which we refer to as the J2 Project, began several years ago and has resulted in the establishment of new genetic laboratories for PIDs in Minsk in Belarus, and Zagreb in Croatia, for example. The project has also evolved by expanding beyond its initial borders in Eastern Europe, reflecting the local ambitions of PID physicians and the willingness of our colleagues in Turkey and elsewhere to embrace the unique professional concept and spirit of the J Project. This enthusiasm was behind the decision to hold this jubilee J Project meeting outside of Eastern Europe, in one of the most ambitious countries of the J Daughters Project.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who have made a significant contribution to the J Project. In particular, special thanks should be given to the PID Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the University of Debrecen Medical and Health Science Center, which has analyzed more than 1000 samples over the past 10 years, to promote genetic diagnostics in ECE countries and to initiate clinical research, including studies of regional genotype-phenotype relationships and disease mechanisms. The outstanding achievement of this laboratory has been the provision of these services to our colleagues, patients and their families free of charge, thanks to generous support from various sources. In particular, we would like to thank Biotest AG for their unstinting support of the J Project over the past decade and the unique assistance they have provided for the organization of this meeting.