The career that this symposium honours, that of Ben E. de Pauw, MD, PhD, could be said to have begun in 1970 upon his graduation from the University of Amsterdam. However, it was his move to Nijmegen in 1975 to finish his PhD studies that really began the career in which he forged expertise in haematology, oncology, immunology and infectious diseases into one spectacular career that resulted in more than 200 publications.