EBV and HPV: Oral Infection, Persistence & Pathogenesis

Epstein-Barr病毒（EBV）和人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）是两种重要的人类肿瘤病毒，在世界范围内引起重大的人类疾病发病率和死亡率。最近的数据表明，EBV和HPV是口腔疾病的重要原因，但未得到重视。为了使更多的临床和研究关注EBV和HPV口腔上皮感染及其发病机制，2003年2月13日至16日将在德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿召开一次重要的国际科学会议，题为“EBV和HPV：口腔感染、持久性和发病机制”。本次会议的目标是促进口腔粘膜上皮中EBV和HPV疾病发病机制的多学科研究，这将发展新的科学假设，并将催化该领域的新的跨学科研究计划。这一目标将通过以下方式实现：1)确定我们当前知识中的重要缺陷；2)确定学科之间的科学和临床重叠领域；3)促进研究人员之间的新研究合作。

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.