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About HUPO

ABOUT HUPO

The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) is an international scientific organization representing and promoting proteomics through international cooperation and collaborations by fostering the development of new technologies, techniques and training.

HUPO Mission Statement

To define and promote proteomics through international cooperation and collaborations by fostering the development of new technologies, techniques and training to better understand human disease.

Objectives

Foster global collaboration in major proteomics projects by gathering leading international laboratories in life sciences, bioinformatics, mass spectrometry, systems biology, pathology, and medicine;
Become the point of contact for proteomics research and commercialization activities worldwide;
Support large-scale proteomics projects that are aimed at:
- A mechanistic understanding of fundamental biological processes (often using model organisms and non human species);
- Directly studying human disease through proteomics techniques and technologies;

Coordinate and enable the fostering of communication among funding agencies and industry partners with the proteomics community and coordinate the activities of groups and organisations interested in HUPO’s Scientific Initiatives

Coordinate the development of standard operating procedures related to:
- Sample preparation, analysis, and repetitions;
- Data collection, analysis, storage, and sharing;

Play a leading role in:
- Defining the location and functions of proteins in human health and disease by supporting the definition of common and specific standards for peptide and protein characterization from human and model organism specimen selection and phenotypic evaluation to data collection, storage and analysis allowing free and rapid exchange of data;
- The creation of country-based ethical and legal policy surrounding the handling, banking and use of human tissue specimens for large-scale proteomics projects.

How did HUPO evolve?

HUPO was launched on February 9, 2001. On that date, a global advisory council was officially formed that included leading global experts in the field of proteomics from the academic, government, and commercial sectors. Over the next 12 months, the council, in consultation with industry, identified major proteomics issues and initiatives that needed to be addressed by HUPO. Since its inception, HUPO has received substantial financial assistance from Genome Quebec, Montreal International, McGill University, the National Institutes of Health, and pharmaceutical companies, among others. In addition, it has benefited from considerable in-kind contributions of time and energy from HUPO Council members, research institutes, and pharmaceutical company partners around the world.

HUPO Initiatives are prominently showcased at each Annual HUPO World Congress, which are held as per a three year rotation in the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe. Past congresses have been held in cities such as Versailles, France (2002), Montreal, Canada (2003), Beijing, China (2004), Munich, Germany (2005). Long Beach, USA (2006), Seoul, Korea (2007), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2008) and Toronto, Canada (2009). The number of participants and exhibitors has significantly increased over the years and the Congresses are a must attend for anyone involved in proteomics.

The HUPO Office Headquarters are located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

History of the HUPO logo

Author: Young-Ki Paik, Yonsei Proteome Research Center, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea

The current HUPO logo was created on July 24, 2001 while Prof. Sam Hanash was serving his first year as HUPO Inaugural President (2001-2004). Sometime in June, Prof. Sam Hanash (Sam) and Prof. Young-Ki Paik (Young-Ki), HUPO Secretary General (2001-2006), discussed the idea of creating a HUPO logo. After this chat, Young-Ki started looking for a reputable and successful branding and naming company in Seoul, Korea. One day, Dr. Sang Yun Cho, one of Young-Ki’s staff members at Yonsei Proteome Research Center (Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea), introduced Prof. Hyewon Sohn, CEO of Crosspoint International Branding and Design Company, located at Hongick University, near YPRC. Her company had had much previous success creating names and logos for major famous companies. Young-Ki met Prof. Sohn and her colleague, Mr. Seoung Woo Hong, and requested that they design the HUPO logo. She asked Mr. Hong, her associate, to do this work, and later he presented three different versions of the HUPO logo as seen in Fig. 1. Because Young-Ki wanted feedback on these three candidate HUPO logos from the proteomics experts, he put them to a vote at KHUPO’s inauguration meeting in Seoul on July 24, 2001. As seen in the image (Fig. 1), the current version received the majority of votes from the attendees at the inaugural KHUPO meeting. Young-Ki immediately sent the current HUPO logo to Sam for his approval. Sam and the HUPO Executive members very much liked it and accepted it as the official HUPO logo.

After the HUPO logo was created, KHUPO used it to produce the KHUPO logo simply by adding the letter ‘K’ in front of the HUPO logo. Young-Ki and KHUPO thanked both Prof. Sohn and her associate Seoung Woo Hong for their excellent work on the HUPO logo, which they did free of charge. Later on, as a gesture of appreciation to both, Young-Ki presented them with some compensatory gifts on behalf of the KHUPO members. Some years later, Young-Ki also formally offered to donate the logo to HUPO for permanent ownership. Sam and HUPO EC gladly accepted this HUPO logo and authorized it for HUPO administration.

Note that the 8 blue dots inside the letter “P” each symbolize one letter of the word “proteome”.

When HPP was launched in 2010 in Sydney HUPO Congress, Young-Ki’s team (Dr. Seul-Ki Jeong) created the current HPP and C-HPP logos by using the “P” (in blue color). The character, ‘P’ now becomes very popular letter for HUPO projects (Fig. 2)

Figure 1: Shown here are three candidates of HUPO logo which were subjected to voting by KHUPO members in 2001. The current version (middle) received the most popular votes and thus was taken by HUPO.