International Society for Extracellular Vesicles

The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) is an international scientific organization that focuses on advancing global extracellular vesicle (EV) research.^[1] These membrane-bound particles are released from all known cells and include exosomes, ectosomes, exophers, oncosomes, and more. Established in 2011, the society is a nonprofit organization. It is governed by an executive committee. The current president is Kenneth Witwer. Previous presidents were Edit Buzás (2022-2024), Clotilde Théry (2018-2022), Andrew Hill (2016-2018) and founding president Jan Lötvall (2011-2016). The society's journals are the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles and the Journal of Extracellular Biology.^[2] ISEV also publishes the international consensus guidelines for EV studies, the "Minimal information for studies of EVs" (MISEV).^[3][4]

ISEV has several committees (Meetings and Programs, Science and Journals, Rigor and Standardization, Education, Translation, Regulation, and Advocacy Committee, and Communications and Membership) focused on advancing research and promoting awareness in the EVs. Each committee has specific roles and goals.

As part of its mission to promote scientific research and education, the society hosts annual meetings and educational event as well as numerous workshops on defined EV-related topics. The society also co-sponsors or endorses related events.

ISEV workshops began with a meeting on extracellular RNA (New York City, 2012),^[5][6][7] and continue to include one to two meetings per year. During widespread restrictions on in-person meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, ISEV introduced the "Extracellular Vesicle Club," a weekly virtual event featuring presentations and moderated discussion of scientific publications.^[8]

The society has directly or indirectly supported EV-related events around the world. These include meetings of the UK, French, and Spanish and Portuguese EV Societies (GEIVEX), a course of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Keystone Symposia (2016 and 2018),^[9] Gordon Research Conferences (2016, 2018, and 2022),^[10] a Cold Spring Harbor Asia Meeting (2016),^[11] and others.

To disseminate research in the field, the society established the peer-reviewed open access Journal of Extracellular Vesicles in 2012.^[12] The journal was initially published by Co-Action Publishing, by Taylor & Francis from 2016-2020, and by Wiley since 2020. In addition to research and review articles, the journal periodically publishes position papers of the society that are meant to advance standardization efforts.^[6][7] In 2014, the Executive Board of Directors published a set of minimal information guidelines for publication of EV studies.^[13][14] These requirements, known as "MISEV" or "MISEV2014," mirrored similar initiatives in the fields of microarray (MIAME) and proteomics (MIAPE) analysis, among others. In 2017, the society's board announced its intent to update these requirements with community involvement.^[15] The "MISEV2018" requirements were published in 2018 by Clotilde Théry and Kenneth Witwer with input from 380 co-authors.^[16] The current consensus guidelines, known as "MISEV2023", were prepared with input from more than 1050 co-authors, using extensive crowdsourcing of expert opinion to build consensus.^[4] The corresponding authors are Joshua Welsh, Deborah Goberdhan, Lorraine O'Driscoll, Clotilde Théry and Kenneth Witwer.^[3]

In 2021, ISEV founded a second journal, the Journal of Extracellular Biology, focusing on EVs but also other extracellular particles (EPs) and phenomena.^[2][17] The editor-in-chief is Andrew Hill.

Among the educational initiatives of the society are massive open online courses (MOOCs), launched in 2016. MOOC 1&II are available through Coursera^[18][19] and co-sponsored by the University of Gothenburg, Pohang University of Science and Technology, and the University of California, Irvine.^[20] MOOC III is available on YouTube

In 2020, the Student Network on Extracellular Vesicles (SNEV) was founded as a virtual network for early-career researchers in EV research. SNEV’s activities include organizing online scientific talks, a monthly newsletter, industry talks and informal meet-and-greets (coffee catch ups). SNEV has organized two virtual conferences, one in 2021 and the second in 2023. Since 2024, SNEV has become the official early career within ISEV.

[TD1]Link to Student Network on Extracellular Vesicles (wordpress.com)

• Official website