The Macrophage Club of Région Occitanie (MaCRO), born in 2017, is a joined initiative between the scientific communities of the Macrophage Club of Toulouse (MCT) and Macrophage Club of Montpellier (MCM). It is now an open network of laboratories in the district of Occitania (south of France) interested in the biology of monocytes and macrophages.

See the website The Macrophage Clubs of the region Occitania for more information  

Macrophages were discovered in 1884 and they have been experiencing a renewed interest in recent years in the scientific community. Indeed, they are found in all tissues, where they are critical for immune protection and tissue homeostasis, but they are also associated with aggravation of several diseases including chronic inflammations, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders and cancers.

The MACRO aims to provide a framework for research on macrophages and to promote exchanges of knowledge and expertise in this field gathered by scientific communities that come from a variety of disciplines. The MaCRO organizes an annual meeting, alternatively chaired by the MCM and MCT, named SoMM for Symposium of the Occitanie Network Monocytes-Macrophages.

The objectives are: 1) to consolidate the network of regional scientists, 2) to enhance and increase the visibility of the scientific results, 3) to optimize the influence of our community at regional and national level, 4) to communicate the dynamism of our scientific community with international leaders in the field, 5) foster exchanges between partners in the academic and industrial fabric, 6) enable young scientists in training to share their results and meet leaders in the field

The 1st SoMM was held on November 20th, 2017, in Montpellier and invited internationally renown experts in the field of macrophage ontogeny, and macrophage role in tissue regeneration and diseases (https://somm2017.sciencesconf.org/).

The 2nd SoMM, SoMM2018  was held in Toulouse on November 30th, 2018 and will present researches of experts in different aspects of macrophage biology, in ontogeny, differentiation and functional specialisation of macrophages in tissues (https://somm2018.sciencesconf.org/).

The 3rd SoMM , SoMM2019 intitled  will be held in Montpellier on november 29th 2019. 

Flyer SoMM2019