Greetings
It is my great pleasure to invite you to the 5th APIS Forum, hosted by the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) on 17–18 September 2026 at the Conrad Seoul, Republic of Korea.
APIS (Asia-Pacific Infectious Disease Shield) is the first Korea-led collaboration network for infectious disease preparedness in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2021, the Republic of Korea (NRF/KRIBB) was selected as Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional Hub of GloPID-R, the global alliance of research funding organisations for infectious disease preparedness. Since then, KRIBB has developed APIS as the lead institution of "International Cooperation Research on Infectious Diseases through GloPID-R Network and Advancement of APIS", a programme designated by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of the Republic of Korea. Since the Kick-off Conference in November 2022, APIS has convened the Forum annually, and we are now proud to host the 5th APIS Forum.
APIS brings together scientists, policymakers and research funders to prepare for and respond to new and re-emerging infectious diseases, with particular attention to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Building on this experience, KRIBB launched APIS 2.0 in 2025. In 2026, we completed our first APIS-linked call, through which six international research consortia were selected. Under the APIS Gap-filling Project, we have also launched a bioinformatics capacity-building initiative with two Asia-Pacific partner countries.
The 5th APIS Forum will bring together national and non-profit research funding agencies, together with government-affiliated researchers from across the Asia-Pacific region, to discuss the theme:
"Climate Change and Infectious Diseases"
The Forum will examine how climate change is reshaping infectious disease patterns and research priorities across the Asia-Pacific, and will focus in particular on developing robust funding strategies for climate-sensitive infectious diseases in the region's LMICs. The Forum will be held in a hybrid format.
We sincerely look forward to welcoming you to Yeouido, Seoul, this September. Through the 5th APIS Forum, we hope to strengthen the capacity of Asia-Pacific countries to prevent and control climate-sensitive infectious diseases through a better-coordinated regional research and funding ecosystem.
Warm regards,
Choong-Min Ryu
Head, GloPID-R Asia-Pacific Regional Hub
Director, Infectious Disease Research Center, KRIBB