Who We Are
GA²LEN is a Network of Excellence of the leading European clinical and research facilities in the field of allergology and asthma, started in 2004 and until 2010 together with the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the organisation representing European patients with allergies and asthma (EFA). Created under the European Union Sixth Framework Programme for Research, GA²LEN has become a model project in Europe. GA²LEN addresses the growing public health concern of allergic diseases. Since 2010, GA²LEN successfully expanded as a non-profit organization with its Headquarters in Berlin and continues to grow.
Research teams were chosen for their scientific excellence, their record on multidisciplinary working and international collaboration, and their educational activities. Since the launch of the Network, it has grown to include an additional 50 collaborating centres making GA²LEN one of the largest multidisciplinary networks of researchers in allergy and asthma worldwide.
GA²LEN originally started as an EU funded network of excellence in 2004. From the very beginning, GA²LEN’s aim was to decrease the burden of allergy and asthma globally, and to create platforms for joint research, education and raising awareness. An essential aspect of the EU grant agreement was to maintain GA²LEN beyond the EU funding.
In 2008, with the support of the EU, the sustainability of GA²LEN was established by creating its own legal entity, a democratically ruled non-profit organization, registered under German law. German law was chosen after evaluation of the EU officer as it is one of the strictest actively overlooking the activities of non-profit organizations. Formally this entity is registered under the name GA²LEN e.V. This means “registered society” to express the legal status but for activities only uses the name GA²LEN. Thus the former EU Network of excellence has now been successfully transformed into a legal entity.
Our non-profit status is consistently reevaluated by the German tax authorities who check the annual report of all activities as well as all finances.
Our statutes can be found here.
In addition to the original concept of partners and collaborating centres, GA²LEN has set up a worldwide network in different disease activities called CORE Centres of Reference and Excellence.
In the GA²LEN Annual General Assembly, each Partner, Collaboration Center, and CORE Center is invited to participate in this yearly meeting legally required by the statutes of GA²LEN e.V. with one representative who has voting rights. The same applies to CORE activities and meetings, wherein each centre or society is represented by one individual with voting rights for all GA²LEN activities.
We constantly aim to ensure transparency, inclusivity of all stakeholders and sharing ideas and initiatives in a friendly democratic approach which is acknowledged by all centres of the GA²LEN Network as a whole and all those participating in meetings and projects.
If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Torsten Zuberbier, GA²LEN President
Integrating European research
Europe has produced some of the most important recent findings on allergy and asthma, but research tends to be fragmented in different institutes and even in different departments of the same organisation. Findings are not always shared nor rapidly translated into changes in practice. The GA²LEN Network of Excellence (NoE) exists to help integrate research activities in Europe and to establish the structure for a European Research Area of excellence in allergy and asthma that will endure.
The network aims to accelerate the application of research results into clinical practice, to meet the needs of the patients, and to help guide policy development. GA²LEN also aims to promote training and greater integration between public and private sectors in this medical field.