Conference: North American Comparative Immunology 2023

第13届北美比较免疫学（NACI）会议将于2023年6月4日至8日在奥本的奥本大学酒店和会议中心举行。 尽管免疫学领域长期以来一直受益于模式生物的研究，但最近的技术进步使科学家能够在以前无法获得的生物中进行研究。此外，面对不断变化的全球气候，新出现的传染病的流行率正在上升，对人类和农业的健康构成了更多的威胁。 研究直接受到威胁的生物或工业中使用的物种可以为免疫生物学，医学和进化以及新疗法的潜力提供独特的见解。 NACI 2023将为研究广泛生物体中免疫系统的研究人员提供一个论坛，讨论比较免疫学的概念进展和实验技术。 具体而言，NSF的资金将用于支付初级研究人员和当地大学与会者的差旅费，特别是来自私立本科院校（PUI）和历史上的黑人学院和大学（HBCU）的差旅费，从而使学员能够参加这次会议。 NACI会议提供了一个论坛，从进化的角度促进对免疫功能感兴趣的科学家之间的合作。研究人员将展示造血，抗菌肽，抗病毒反应，粘膜免疫，吞噬作用，微生物识别，抗原呈递，亲和力成熟和微生物组分析方面的前沿工作。然而，与更传统的免疫学会议不同，这项工作是在不同的分类群中进行的（例如，珊瑚、蜗牛、海胆、被囊动物、肺鱼、鱼、青蛙和哺乳动物）。 NACI会议提供了一个小型场地，鼓励学生参与，并促进所有职业阶段的科学家之间的网络。 会议包括全体会议和海报会议，使学生能够从这个国际社会收到他们的工作反馈。 通过抵消登记和旅行费用，拟议的资金将使各级研究人员能够参加这次会议。通过有意招募和有针对性的广告，整个美国东南部的机构和抵消成本的历史上被排除的人群，资金将介绍新的研究人员比较免疫学领域。 一个计划中的研讨会将为所有与会者提供新的战略，以提高辅导技能。 NACI 2023的结果将通过在NACI网站上发布摘要并邀请学生在适当的期刊上发表会议报告来传播。我们还将指定一个由博士后研究员或初级教师组成的社交媒体团队，他们将在会议期间进行“实时推特”演讲。NACI 2023将通过参与者的性别、种族和民族多样性来补充本次会议上科学多样性的广度，从而直接为扩大该领域的参与做出贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The 13th North American Comparative Immunology (NACI) meeting will be held June 4 – 8, 2023 at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center in Auburn, AL. The primary objective of this meeting is to bring together researchers interested in immune responses in a wide range of organisms. Although the field of immunology has long benefitted from studies in model organisms, recent technological advances have enabled scientists to pursue research questions in previously unavailable organisms. Furthermore, in the face of a changing global climate the prevalence of emerging infectious diseases is increasing and posing additional threats to the health of both humans and agriculture. Studying organisms that are either directly threatened or species used in industry can provide unique insight into immunobiology, medicine and evolution and the potential for novel therapeutics. NACI 2023 will provide a forum for researchers studying immune systems in a broad array of organisms to discuss conceptual advances and experimental techniques in comparative immunology. Specifically, NSF funding will be used to make this meeting accessible to trainees by defraying travel costs for junior researchers and attendees from local universities particularly those from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). NACI meetings provide a forum to foster collaborations among scientists interested in immune function from an evolutionary perspective. Researchers will present cutting-edge work in hematopoiesis, antimicrobial peptides, antiviral responses, mucosal immunity, phagocytosis, microbial recognition, antigen presentation, affinity maturation and microbiome analysis. However, unlike more traditional immunology meetings, this work has been performed in a diverse range of taxa (e.g., corals, snails, sea urchins, tunicates, lungfish, fish, frogs, and mammals). NACI meetings provide a small venue that encourages student participation and fosters networking among scientists at all career stages. The meeting consists of plenary and poster sessions that enable students to receive feedback on their work from this international community. By offsetting registration and travel costs, the proposed funds will enable researchers at all levels to attend this meeting. Through intentional recruitment and targeted advertising to institutions throughout the southeastern U.S. and offsetting costs for historically-excluded populations, funds will introduce new researchers to the field of comparative immunology. A planned workshop will provide all attendees with novel strategies to improve mentoring skills. Results from NACI 2023 will be disseminated by posting abstracts on the NACI website and inviting students to publish a meeting report in an appropriate journal. We will also designate a social media team of postdoctoral fellows or junior faculty members who will “live-tweet” talks during the meeting. By complementing the breadth of scientific diversity at this meeting with gender, racial and ethnic diversity of its participants, NACI 2023 will directly contribute to broadening participation in the field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.