SICB symposium: Psychoneuroimmunology Meets Integrative Biology. January 3-7, 2009. Boston, MA

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The endocrine, immune and nervous systems help animals adjust their behavior to survive challenging conditions. Historically, these systems were studied independently but now they are recognized as an integrated network, which explain how stress can increase chances of sickness in many species. Most work in this new field, psychoneuroimmunology, or PNI, has focused on improvement of human health, but many discoveries might reconcile basic biological problems such as why animals reduce activity when they get sick. Reduced activity, as well as reduced food intake, increased sleep, and lack of interest in pleasurable stimuli, comprise a suite of sickness behaviors that may serve to redirect an animal's priorities towards survival of infection. The goals of the symposium are two-fold. First, PNI researchers will be brought together with comparative physiologists to begin generating frameworks for testing some of the above ideas. PNI researchers tend to be lab-based and work on domesticated rodents whereas comparative physiologists often work on wild animals in the field. Results of these interactions will be disseminated to the public and broader scientific community through the SICB website and papers in the primary scientific literature. Second, the symposium will represent an excellent training experience for students, especially underrepresented groups. Interactions at the symposium will connect promising new scientists to potential mentors. Also, historically underrepresented students will be highlighted in the symposium, as at least three of six trainees funded to attend and present their data will be women or minorities.