The foundation of the Scuola Superiore d'Immunologia Ruggero Ceppellini (Ruggero Ceppellini Advanced School of Immunology) stemmed from the strenuous will of Serafino Zappacosta, professor of Immunology at the “Federico II” University of Naples,  to create in Southern Italy a pole of attraction for those pursuing immunological studies, and to promote fruitful interaction among the scientific and medical communities at the national and international level.

The long-standing dedication of Serafino Zappacosta to foster wider interest for immunology and to attract young scientists from advanced and disadvantaged Countries towards the discipline, was essential in encouraging a group of scientists to achieve the difficult task of materialising, in a formal and functional institution, the advancement of creativity and enterprise in this fascinating field of Science.

To honour the memory of one of the great Italian scientists operating in the field, the School took its name from Ruggero Ceppellini (1917-88), the immuno-geneticist who contributed so much toward the studies of the Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecules, playing a key role in the control of immune response.

The attention for continuing education programmes was one of the major achievement of Serafino Zappacosta, also before the School's foundation and in fact some courses, of the same format than that used in the courses organised later by the School, were organised and held since the early '70s. There was, in fact, the firm belief of Serafino Zappacosta that Immunology, a very promising discipline at that time, was destined to take in future years a pivotal role in the field of Biological and Medical Science. This consideration prompted Serafino Zappacosta to organise courses for physicians and bio-medical researchers which would stimulate their interest for research in the field.

The School was constituted as a non-profit scientific association and the constitutional act was signed in Naples on 13 June, 1991, by Melchiorre Brai, Antonio Di Giacomo, Giovanni B. Ferrara, Ciro Manzo, Alfred Nisonoff and Serafino Zappacosta. The School's inaugural ceremonies were held on 11 October, 1992, at Palazzo Serra di Cassano in Naples, the seat of the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici, on the occasion of the School's first course, dealing with the immunology of bone marrow transplantation.

Since then the aim of the School is to foster, encourage and propagate all aspects of knowledge relating to immunology and associated disciplines (genetics, microbiology, oncology) in the scientific community, in Italy and in other Countries, particularly in developing countries, through the promotion of scientific research, continuing education and in-service training in these disciplines. These objectives are described in detail in the School's Statute.

The death of the School Founder Prof. Serafino Zappacosta, occurred suddenly in Naples on 5 May 2006, was an incommensurable loss. At the same time, his strenuous passion in promoting School activities represents a potent stimulus to continue his enormous efforts to foster wider interest for immunology and to attract to the discipline young scientists, also from disadvantaged countries.

The School is run by a Board of Directors, under the advice of a Scientific Advisory Board.