Gordon Research Conference on "Infections of the nervous system: Pathogenesis and Worldwide Impact1"

 描述(申请人提供)：由嗜神经病原体引起的疾病负担通常会导致神经后遗症，影响幸存者的运动、感官和认知功能。这反过来又损害社会经济进步，特别是在这类疾病特别流行的热带地区。随着气候变化影响我们的星球的表现越来越多，通过昆虫媒介传播的病原体可能会转移到其他地区，这表明这些病原体如何对神经细胞功能产生如此深远的影响，导致致命的后果或衰弱的、长期的神经损害。由于中枢神经系统通常不是感染的主要目标部位，因此存在一个机会之窗来干扰病原体的传播。开发神经疾病的治疗方法至关重要，这些疾病会造成长期的疾病负担并对社会产生影响。《神经系统感染》戈登研究会议，该系列的第二期将推进该领域的知识，促进资源丰富和贫穷地区的医学研究中心之间的交流。GRC的形式(以社区为基础，受众少，关注未发表的材料)是创建多学科对话的理想方式，其中将包括临床医生和科学家，研究疾病机制和宿主遗传学，嗜神经感染剂的分子组成，以及对嗜神经病原体的先天和获得性免疫反应。这个系列将汇集著名的临床医生和科学家，他们研究人类神经系统在世界范围内感染的疾病表现和潜在的分子机制，这将进一步促进合作，以加快诊断/预后工具和开创性疗法的开发研究。建立一个致力于神经系统感染的顶级科学家的强大社区，将提高世界领先的研究机构对这一领域的影响和挑战的认识，并促进这一主题的新研究和培训计划。会议将以主旨讲座开始，随后将举行科学会议，讨论以下问题：不同病原体入侵神经系统的方式如何不同；嗜神经病原体的特定神经靶细胞及其受体是什么；对入侵病原体的免疫和神经反应的特征是什么；临床和发病机制研究如何能够阐明不同病原体造成的神经系统损害的性质；在所涵盖的一些疾病中，治疗和诊断的新前景是什么。这次会议的另一个重要目标是吸引该领域各大洲的年轻研究人员。这些实习生将展示海报和/或简短的口头陈述，让他们有充足的时间与专家讨论他们的工作。这笔赠款的成功将有助于为年轻研究人员提供参与和贡献的机会，从而通过扩大对破坏性神经疾病的临床和发病机制的了解，推动NINDS的使命，并促进其预防、诊断和治疗方面的进展。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The burden of diseases caused by neurotropic pathogens often result in neurological sequelae that affect motility, sensory organs and cognitive functions in survivors. This in turn impairs socio-economic progress, especially in tropical regions where such diseases are particularly prevalent. With increasing manifestations of climate changes affecting our planet, pathogens spread by insect vectors may move to other regions, indicating how these pathogens have such a profound impact on neural cell function causing either a fatal outcome or debilitating, prolonged neurological impairment. As the central nervous system is usually not the primary target site of infection, a window of opportunity exists to interfere with pathogen spreading. It is crucial to develop therapies for neurological diseases that result in long lasting disease burden and impact on society. The Gordon Research Conference on "Infections of the nervous system", the 2nd of this series will advance knowledge in the field and promote exchanges between medical research centers in resource-rich and -poor regions. The format of GRC (community-based, small audience, focus on unpublished material) is ideal to create a multidisciplinary dialogue that will involve both clinicians and scientists studying disease mechanisms and host genetics, the molecular make-up of neurotropic infectious agents, and the innate and adaptive immune response to neurotropic pathogens. This series will bring together renowned clinicians and scientists, who investigate disease manifestations and molecular mechanisms underlying worldwide infections of the nervous system in humans that will further foster collaborations to accelerate investigations in the development of diagnostic/prognostic tools and pioneering therapeutics. The establishment of a strong community of top-ranked scientists working on infections of the nervous system will increase the awareness of world-leading research institutions on the impact and challenges in this field and foster new research and training programs in this topic. The conference will open with keynote lectures followed by scientific sessions that will address: how ways of invading the nervous system vary between pathogens; what are the specific neural target cells and their receptors for neurotropic pathogens; what are the characteristics of the immune and neural responses to invading pathogens; how clinical and pathogenesis studies can elucidate the nature of the nervous system damage caused by different pathogens; what are the new prospects for therapies and diagnostic in some of the diseases covered. Another important objective of this conference is to attract young researchers from all continents in the field. Thes trainees will present posters and/or short oral presentations, giving them ample time to discuss their work with the experts. Success of this grant will be instrumental in providing this opportunity to younger researchers to participant and contribute, thus advancing the mission of NINDS by expanding the knowledge on clinical and pathogenesis of devastating neurological diseases, and promoting progress in their prevention, diagnostic and therapies.