Ninth International Congress of Neuroimmunology

描述(由申请人提供)：本申请请求部分支持由国际神经免疫学会(ISNI)主办的第九届国际神经免疫学会大会，该大会将于2008年10月26-30日在德克萨斯州的沃斯堡举行。这将是自1987年在费城举行的第二届国际大会以来，首次在美国举行的大会。在大会之前，将有一个由欧洲神经免疫学学院赞助的大会前项目，由神经免疫学领域的领导人代表。迈克尔·K·瑞克博士和卡罗琳·C·惠塔克博士是大会的联合组织者。惠塔克博士现任协会副主席，并将在这次会议上成为ISNI的主席。她是大会国际咨询委员会的成员。大会组织者将利用所申请的资金鼓励神经免疫学领域的初级和少数族裔研究人员出席。这次大会是国际神经免疫学日历上的重大活动，每2到3年举行一次。预计到场人数为1200至1500人。我们2004年在威尼斯举行的ISNI大会接待了1200多名与会者，2006年接待了名古屋，1000多名与会者。由于人们对免疫系统在许多神经系统疾病中的关键作用的认识日益加深，神经免疫学已经成为一个重要的并不断扩大的生物医学领域，涵盖了从遗传学、基础免疫学和神经生物学到神经化学、药理学、内分泌学、神经病理学和神经免疫调节，到临床免疫学和神经学的广泛学科。该科学计划将侧重于免疫监测的基本机制，包括神经成像、神经系统修复、神经系统对免疫反应的调节以及神经系统疾病的免疫学机制等方面的新技术。对神经系统疾病(多发性硬化症、神经胶质瘤、副肿瘤综合征、神经肌肉疾病、精神疾病、艾滋病毒脑炎、病毒感染等)的新治疗方法(基于基因、细胞和免疫的治疗)的高度重视将渗透到该计划中。干细胞在神经修复和神经退行性变机制方面的研究也将占据突出地位。这项申请用于旅费，并将用于鼓励年轻的和少数群体研究人员(博士前和博士后)参加世界各地的研究，特别是来自欠发达国家的研究。候选人的遴选将由美国当地的一个组委会进行。由于非常重视转化性研究，大会将提供继续医学教育学分，并将要求提供支持，以支付与信息披露管理和整个认证过程相关的费用，这将确保所有大会发言都是平衡的，对与会者没有偏见。公共卫生相关性：神经免疫学与大多数退行性神经系统疾病非常相关，因为神经系统与免疫系统保持着持续的沟通，并对几乎任何类型的压力做出反应。神经系统产生与免疫系统相互作用的分子，反之亦然，当神经系统发生炎症时，会导致重要的相互作用。神经免疫学与公共卫生有着极大的相关性，因为免疫反应可以被阻断或调节，从而使它们易于接受治疗。近年来在多发性硬化症和阿尔茨海默病方面取得的巨大进步，是从神经免疫学研究中发展出来的治疗策略的应用中演变而来的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application requests partial support for the 9th International Congress of the International Society of Neuroimmunology sponsored by the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI), which will take place in Fort Worth, Texas, from October 26 - 30, 2008. This will be the first Congress held in the United States since the 2nd International Congress held in Philadelphia in 1987. The congress will be preceded by a pre-congress program sponsored by the European School of Neuroimmunology, represented by leaders in the field of neuroimmunology. Drs. Michael K. Racke and Caroline C. Whitacre, are the Congress co-organizers. Dr. Whitacre is currently the Society's Vice-President and will become the President of ISNI at this meeting. She is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Congress. The funds requested will be used by the congress organizers to encourage the attendance of junior and minority investigators in the field of Neuroimmunology. This congress is the major event in the international neuroimmunology calendar and is held every 2 or 3 years. Anticipated attendance is 1,200-1,500. Our 2004 ISNI Congress in Venice hosted 1200+ attendees and Nagoya in 2006, 1000+ attendees. Due to the increasing recognition of the key role of the immune system in many neurological diseases, neuroimmunology has become an important and continuously expanding biomedical field, encompassing a wide variety of disciplines ranging from genetics, basic immunology and neurobiology, through neurochemistry, pharmacology, endocrinology, neuropathology and neuroimmunomodulation, to clinical immunology and neurology. The scientific program will focus on basic mechanisms of immune surveillance, including new techniques in neuroimaging, repair of the nervous system, nervous system regulation of immune responses, and immunologic mechanisms of neurologic diseases. A heavy emphasis on new therapeutic approaches (gene, cell and immune-based therapies) in neurologic diseases (multiple sclerosis, gliomas, paraneoplastic syndromes, neuromuscular disorders, psychiatric disease, HIV encephalitis, viral infections, etc.), will permeate the program. Stem cell research in neural repair and mechanisms of neurodegeneration will also feature prominently. This request is for travel funds and will be used to encourage young and minority investigators (pre- and postdoctoral) to attend from around the world, in particular from less developed countries. The selection of candidates will be carried out by a local organizing committee in the United States. Because of the heavy emphasis on translational research, Continuing Medical Education credits will be offered at the congress and support will be requested to cover the costs associated with the administration of disclosure information and the overall accreditation process, which will ensure all congress presentations are balanced and free of bias for the participants. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Neuroimmunology is of great relevance to most degenerative neurologic conditions because the nervous system is in constant communication with the immune system and responds to almost any type of stress. The nervous system produces molecules that interact with the immune system and vice-versa, leading to important interactions when inflammation occurs in the nervous system. Neuroimmunology has tremendous relevance to public health in that immune responses can be either blocked or modulated thus making them amenable to therapy. The enormous strides made in multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease in recent years have evolved from the application of therapeutic strategies that grew out of neuroimmunologic investigations.