23rd International Workshop on Kaposi's Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV) and Related Agents

摘要

Abstract This conference grant application requests funds to help support the 23nd International Conference on Kaposi's Sarcoma Herpesvirus and Related Agents in 2020. Our annual conference will bring together researchers and clinicians working on the oncogenic human herpesvirus, Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), and other closely related pathogens. KSHV is the etiology agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), which is still one of the most prevalent cancers in Africa, especially in HIV-1 infected individuals. The funds will be used to reduce the conference registration costs for outstanding pre- and post-doctoral trainees, historically under-represented minorities, and scientists from lower income countries, especially those from Africa who study oncogenic DNA viruses and the cancers associating with these viruses. The goals of these meetings are consistent with the mission statements of the NIH, NCI, NIAID, and NIDCR, namely, to advance and promote the pace of research on infections associated with human cancer and other diseases, including in the setting of HIV-AIDS. The main KSHV conference will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from the afternoon of June 22 through June 25, 2020. With an additional day, June 26, for a training workshop to engage both established researchers and trainees, clinicians and basic researchers, to interact and develop collaborations on translational research projects. All remaining costs for the conference will be raised from registration fees paid by the conferees and contributions from host institutions, foundations, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The major focus of the KSHV meeting is the biology of oncogenic herpesviruses and associated human diseases, with specific emphasis on viral pathogenesis, viral latency and reactivation, viral gene expression and replication, host responses to infection, epidemiology, vaccine development, therapeutic intervention, clinical and translational research. In addition to KSHV, studies related to herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), murine herpesvirus-68 (MHV- 68), and rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV) will be presented. The 23nd International Conference on Kaposi's Sarcoma- Herpesvirus and Related Agents will mark a new quarter century of research on KSHV since the discovery of this virus in 1994, a new century to engage clinicians and researcher from the continent where infection by KSHV and its associated malignancy is the highest in the world