General information

Mission Statement
The International Society for the Study of Itch (IFSI) is a multidisciplinary international association of clinical practitioners, researchers and scientists dedicated to improving our understanding and treatment of pruritus for the benefit of suffering patients worldwide. The Society is a non-profit professional organization (registered in NC, USA). Membership is open to clinicians, researchers, scientists and other health professionals engaged in the research and treatment of itch.

Our mission is to advance itch-related research and education and to promote treatment and clinical efforts to help alleviate this debilitating symptom. Our main goal is to create an active society that will contribute to the study of Itch. IFSI also distributes recent information about pruritus research and developments by newsletters to its members, the international medical community and the public at large through various media. IFSI conducts international meetings every second year (World Congress of Itch, WCI) where researchers present the latest findings in the field. The official Journal of the IFSI is the Acta Dermato-Venereologica, where an Itch Section with IFSI members acting as section editors was established. This is the first medical Journal world-wide with an own section dedicated to publish the focussed on pruritus research. IFSI supports the publication of high quality papers in this section by covering the publication costs on request.

The Board of Directors for a period of 2 years are:

President: Jacek Szepietowski, Poland
Vice-Presiden: Earl Carstens, USA
Secretary: Elke Weisshaar, Germany
Treasurer: Alan B Fleischer, USA

Board Members:
Jeff D. Bernhard, USA
Toshiya Ebata, Japan
Herrmann Handwerker, Germany
Akihiko Ikoma, Japan
Ethan Lerner, USA (as the representative of the 2013 World Congress of Itch)
Thomas Mettang, Germany
Kenji Takamori, Japan
Sonja Ständer, Germany
Gil Yosipovitch, USA

In September 2005, the 3rd International Workshop for the Study of Itch was held in Heidelberg Germany. The largest meeting of its kind, the workshop was attended by 200 scientists and physicians interested in itch from throughout the world. This workshop was the location for the official launch of the International Forum for the Study of Itch (IFSI), the first international society that exclusively focuses on itch research.