EBV and HPV: Oral Infection, Persistence & Pathogenesis

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) are two important human tumor viruses that cause significant human disease morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recent data suggest that EBV and HPV are important, but under-appreciated, causes of disease in the oral cavity. To bring more clinical and research attention to EBV and HPV oral epithelial infection and disease pathogenesis, a major international scientific meeting will be convened February 13-16, 2003, in Galveston, Texas, entitled: "EBV and HPV: Oral Infection, Persistence, and Pathogenesis". The goal of this meeting will be to promote a multi-disciplinary examination of EBV and HPV disease pathogenesis in oral mucosal epithelium that will develop new scientific hypotheses and will catalyze new inter-disciplinary research initiatives in this field. This goal will be achieved by 1) identifying the important deficits in our current knowledge, 2) identifying areas of scientific and clinical overlap between disciplines, and 3) promoting new research collaborations between investigators. The meeting is designed as a symposium for 200 participants. It will be small and intimate enough to facilitate interaction, discussion, and networking, yet large enough with a critical intellectual mass to be catalytic in developing new ideas and new research relationships. Invited speakers and participants will come from around the world and will represent various clinical and scientific disciplines, including infectious diseases, virology, oral medicine, oral pathology, epithelial biology, mucosal immunology, oncogenesis, and environmental mutagenesis. The scientific agenda will include five major scientific sessions organized into distinct biologic and pathogenic themes: 1) Prerequisites for Pathogenesis: Viral Epithelial Infection and Persistence; 2) Achieving the Balance: Mucosal Immunity and Viral Persistence; 3) From Correlation to Causality: Viral Epithelial Disease Pathogenesis; 4) The Multi-Step Hypothesis: Epithelial Cell Molecular Oncogenesis; and 5) From Bench to Bedside: Epithelial Disease Prevention and Treatment. The support of an NIH R13 grant would potentially bring more investigators to this field by providing funds to allow students (graduate, medical, and dental), post-doctoral fellows, and young investigators to attend this important meeting.