Challenges for the autoimmunologist.

Every 2 years, an International Congress of Autoimmunity is organized and held with the intent of creating a new base for continuing interdisciplinary and international research, including further opportunities to train in the field of autoimmunity. In September 2008, the Congress of Autoimmunity was held in Porto, Portugal, and over the next 6 months, requests were made from a number of key investigators to provide copies of their papers for publication in a special volume of this journal. In addition, a satellite meeting sponsored by the AESKU.KIPP Institute was held in Porto with an attempt of focusing on specific challenges faced by the autoimmunologist. It is hoped that this collection of papers will become a valuable source for researchers in autoimmunity.