Society of Microbial Ecology and Disease -SOMED-

11. Society of Microbial Ecology and Disease -SOMED-

In the middle of ‘70s, a group of American and European scientists actively involved in the study of human intestinal flora decided to start the Society for Intestinal Microbial Ecology and Disease (SIMED). Laws and bylaws were then discussed and a small Executive Board were selected to organize the first meeting in the USA in 1976. The main aims of the Society were defined as: a) To exchange the information, b) the organization international meetings to be held in USA or Europe, c) the diffusion of the outcomes of scientific investigations on the intestinal microbial ecology in health and disease.

At the starting, meeting organization was the main task of the new-born Society but in the course of the years, important events have developed including the foundation, in 1988, of the official journal of the Society (Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease) to support and enable the publication of scientific results obtained by SIMED members. In the minutes of the SIMED Business Assembly held in the occasion of the XIII International Symposium on Intestinal Microecology on September 11-14, 1988, Porto Conte, Sassari, Italy, “Dr. Finegold asked for a conversation regarding the present name of SIMED. He felt that a change should be done in microbial ecology in addition to intestinal ecology. Drs. Finegold, Borriello and Nord felt that a name change would fascinate a broader membership. Dr. Finegold moved that the name of organization be changed from SIMED to SOMED (Society for Microbial Ecology and Disease).