Over the last 7 years, major discoveries occurred in the kallikrein field. Such discoveries include the delineation of the human and other species kallikrein loci, the study of biological activity and physiological functions of many of these enzymes and their application as biomarkers for human diseases and as therapeutic targets. The number of research groups working on human and animal kallikreins has increased dramatically over the last few years. So did the number of publications. Based on an original idea from Dr. David Deperthes, the First International Symposium on Kallikreins was held in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 1- 3, 2005. At this meeting, over 70 scientists from many different countries participated and presented their results. A selection of the original presentations have now been published in a special issue of the Journal “Biological Chemistry” (vol. 387, pp. 635-824, 2006).

The participants and organizers felt that the First International Meeting was an outstanding success and agreed to hold the 2nd International Symposium on Kallikreins & Kallikrein-Related Peptidases within 2 years. Now, this has been set to October 16-18, 2007 at Santorini island, Greece. For more information see (www.kallikrein-society.org).

The Kallikrein Society has not been formally constituted. For the time being, a coordinating group of a few individuals is working towards organizing the 2nd Symposium at Santorini island (ISK 2007). There are so far neither elected officials nor membership fees, etc.

If desirable, and if the participants of the ISK 2007 wish that it is feasible, then, the Kallikrein Society will be formally established and officials elected at that time. You will be posted on future developments.

Eleftherios P. Diamandis, July 2007