Dr. Roger Colobran, Head of the Immunogenetics Area at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and Head of the Translational Immunology group at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), and Dr. Jacques Rivière, a paediatrician in Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiencies Unit at Vall d’Hebron’s and principal investigator of the Infection and Immunity in Pediatric Patients at VHIR, have been elected as the new chairs of the Genetics and Registry Working Parties, respectively, of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) for the 2026–2030 term. The appointments took effect during the ESID 2026 congress, held in Maastricht from 14 to 17 October.

ESID Working Parties are international groups that bring together professionals from different countries to promote collaborative projects, generate knowledge and develop tools and initiatives that help improve the diagnosis, monitoring and research of inborn errors of immunity (IEI).

The Genetics Working Party, led by Dr. Roger Colobran, aims to connect clinicians and immunology professionals, genetics laboratories and research groups involved in the molecular diagnosis of IEI. Its areas of work include sharing experience and genetic data, developing consensus guidelines for genetic diagnosis, and incorporating new genomic technologies into diagnostic practice.

“It is an honour and, at the same time, a great responsibility to take on the leadership of the Genetics Working Party. The genetics of inborn errors of immunity is evolving very rapidly, particularly with the advent of new genomic technologies, and I believe the group should be an open, collaborative space where clinicians, immunologists, geneticists and researchers can share experience and drive projects that ultimately improve patient diagnosis”, explains Dr. Colobran, who adds that “I am approaching this new stage with great enthusiasm and a desire to build on the excellent work carried out over the past few years”.

The Registry Working Party, which will be led by Dr. Jacques Rivière, is responsible for maintaining and developing the ESID Registry, a major European infrastructure that collects clinical and research data on patients with IEI. The registry helps provide a better understanding of the burden of these diseases in Europe, supports epidemiological and multicentre studies, and generates information that can inform the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. The group also works to improve data quality, standardisation and interoperability, and evaluates research proposals based on the ESID Registry.

“The registry is an essential tool for turning data from many centres and many patients into useful knowledge”, says Dr. Rivière. “The challenge over the coming years will be to continue improving its quality, interoperability and capacity to support collaborative studies that help us better understand IEI and, ultimately, improve patient care. It is a privilege to be able to contribute to this project in this new role”, he emphasises.

Strong representation from Vall d’Hebron at the ESID congress

The ESID 2026 congress also featured broad representation from Vall d’Hebron professionals and research projects.

Dr. Roger Colobran took part in one of the plenary sessions of the Educational Day dedicated to genetics, while Dr. Jacques Rivière spoke at a plenary session focused on the application of artificial intelligence to the care of patients with IEI. Both also chaired several sessions at the congress.

In addition, Vall d’Hebron professionals presented seven studies in poster format or as e-posters with oral discussion, reflecting the breadth of research on IEI conducted at the centre. From the Infection and Immunity in Pediatric Patients group, Dr. Luca Zanieri presented results from advanced immunological analyses in patients with APDS treated with leniolisib. Belén Sánchez presented data on the reconstitution of humoral immunity following haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Dr. Jacques Rivière and Raül Garcia also presented work aimed at improving the interoperability of the ESID Registry by mapping diagnoses to ORPHA codes. From the Translational Immunology group, Carlos Abel Salazar presented a longitudinal study on the progression towards immune dysregulation in adult patients with common variable immunodeficiency.

During the e-poster sessions with oral presentations, Dr. Roger Colobran presented two studies focusing on new genomic approaches to diagnosing inborn errors of immunity. Janire Perurena, a researcher in the Translational Immunology group, presented a study using advanced immunophenotyping to identify different immunological endotypes in common variable immunodeficiency. Perurena’s work also received the award for best poster in its thematic session, recognising the quality of the research presented by the Vall d’Hebron team.

Vall d’Hebron’s work on inborn errors of immunity

The appointments and Vall d’Hebron’s extensive participation in the ESID 2026 congress reflect the hospital’s sustained commitment over the past two decades to the care, diagnosis and research of IEI. This work has established Vall d’Hebron as a leading centre in this field in Catalonia, across Spain and internationally.

This track record has been recognised through several accreditations: Vall d’Hebron is part of the Network of Clinical Expertise Units (XUEC) for primary immunodeficiencies of the Catalan Health Service; it is designated as a Centre, Service and Unit of Reference (CSUR) within Spain’s National Health System for primary immunodeficiencies; it is part of the European Reference Network ERN-RITA; and it has been recognised by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation as a Center of Excellence in the diagnosis and research of primary immunodeficiencies.