2012 International Conference on Anaerobic Parasites (ICAP)

描述（如申请人所提供）：世纪后半叶的科学和医学进步已经彻底改变了管理或治愈以前具有更高死亡率的疾病的能力。然而，许多寄生虫病仍然困扰着发展中国家，旨在了解这些进化上多样化的单细胞真核生物的研究落后于模式生物。更加关注了解寄生虫感染的生物学和致病特性对于延长寿命和改善全世界数百万人的生活质量是必要的。此申请寻求对第五届国际厌氧寄生虫会议（ICAP V）的支持。本次会议将重点讨论3种相关的厌氧人体寄生虫，溶组织内阿米巴，贾第鞭毛虫和阴道毛滴虫，它们在世界范围内分布，在美国引起公共卫生问题。这些单细胞寄生虫是管腔居住的细胞外病原体，具有共同的生化和亚细胞特性，每种都利用其寄生于人类宿主。本次会议的主要目标是促进科学数据交流，并激发对最近研究的积极讨论，以及研究这些相关寄生虫的研究人员目前面临的共同技术挑战。ICAP V的具体目标是：（a）通过将对这些寄生虫有共同兴趣的研究人员聚集在一起，促进信息共享并支持研究的进步;（B）支持该领域的优秀初级研究人员、多样性和国际交流与合作;（c）促进学院互动，研究同一寄生虫的研究人员和研究相关生物的研究人员之间公开讨论和分享方法。会议将分为15个部分;邀请教师在9个部分中进行约30分钟的演讲。两个会议将致力于15分钟的演讲，由博士生，博士后和前终身教职员工将从提交的摘要中选择由组委会。也将有2海报会议的学生和博士后介绍他们的工作。还计划举办两次讲习班，专门讨论厌氧寄生虫基因操作的现状以及目前基因组分析和拟议新基因组项目的最新情况。还将组织分组会议，就与会者先前提出的共同议题和感兴趣的问题或会议进行过程中出现的问题进行非正式讨论。在1997年，2001年，2004年和2008年举行的前四次ICAP会议是唯一一次将研究这三种主要人类感染性厌氧寄生虫的科学家聚集在一起的会议。没有其他会议为我们的社区提供了正式和非正式讨论的机会，共同感兴趣的许多研究课题和技术问题，需要密切关注，以加快对这些人类病原体的研究进展。 公共卫生相关性：本次会议汇集了来自13个国家的科学家，讨论最近的基础科学研究和技术发展的最流行的和医学上重要的人类感染，厌氧寄生虫，溶组织内阿米巴，贾第鞭毛虫和阴道毛滴虫。将讨论的研究主题包括发病机制，信号转导和发育，基因表达和基因组分析，类寄生虫细胞器生物学，细胞生物学，宿主-病原体相互作用和适应于发病机制的寄生虫亚细胞细胞器。会议将通过促进信息交流和增加具有共同兴趣和目标的研究人员之间的互动与合作，更好地了解这些人类寄生虫感染的生物学和发病机制。

Description (as provided by the applicant): Scientific and medical advances in the latter half of the 20th century have revolutionized the ability to manage or cure diseases that previously had far greater fatality rates. Nevertheless many parasitic diseases still plague developing countries and research directed at understanding these evolutionarily diverse, unicellular eukaryotes has lagged behind that of model organisms. A greater focus towards understanding the biology and pathogenic properties of parasitic infections is necessary to extend lifespan and improve the quality of life for millions of people worldwide. This application seeks support for th International Conference on Anaerobic Parasites V (ICAP V). This meeting will focus on 3 related anaerobic human parasites, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia intestinalis, and Trichomonas vaginalis with worldwide distribution, presenting public health problems in the USA. These unicellular parasites are lumen-dwelling, extracellular pathogens with common biochemical and subcellular properties that each exploits to parasitize its human host. The major objective of this meeting is to promote scientific data exchange and stimulate vigorous discussion of recent research, as well as current technical challenges common to researchers studying these related parasites. The specific goals of ICAP V are to (a) promote information sharing and support the advancement of research by bringing together researchers with common interests in these parasites, (b) support outstanding junior investigators in the field, diversity and international communication and collaboration and (c) to promote collegial interactions, open discussion and sharing of methodologies among researchers working on the same parasite and those working on related organisms. The meeting will be divided into 15 sessions; talks of ~30 minutes each will be given by invited faculty in nine sessions. Two sessions will be devoted to 15 minute talks given by PhD students, postdocs and pre-tenured faculty to be selected from submitted abstracts by the organizing committee. There will also be 2 poster sessions for students and postdocs to present their work. Two workshops, devoted to round table discussions of the current status of genetic manipulation of anaerobic parasites and updates on current genome analyses and proposed new genome projects, are also scheduled. Breakout sessions for informal discussion of common topics and problems of interest, previously suggested by participants or ones that arise as the meeting proceeds will also be organized. The previous 4 ICAP meetings, held in 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2008, have been the only meetings to bring together scientists studying these 3 major human-infective anaerobic parasites. No other meeting offers our community the opportunity to discuss, both formally and informally, the many research topics and technical issues of common interest that need critical attention to accelerate the progress of research on these human pathogens. Public Health Relevance: This conference brings together scientists from 13 countries to discuss recent basic science research and technology development for the most 3 prevalent and medically important human-infective, anaerobic parasites, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia intestinalis and Trichomonas vaginalis. Research topics to be discussed include pathogenesis, signal transduction and development, gene expression and genome analyses, biology of mitochondrial-like organelles, cell biology, host-pathogen interactions and parasite subcellular organelles adapted for pathogenesis. The conference will lead to a better understanding of the biology and pathogenesis of these human parasitic infections by stimulating information exchange and increasing interactions and collaborations among researchers with common interests and goals.