Conference: North American Comparative Immunology 2023

第13届北美比较免疫学(NACI)会议将于2023年6月4日至8日在亚利桑那州奥本的奥本大学酒店和会议中心举行。这次会议的主要目标是将对广泛生物体的免疫反应感兴趣的研究人员聚集在一起。虽然免疫学领域长期以来一直受益于对模型生物的研究，但最近的技术进步使科学家能够在以前无法获得的生物中探索研究问题。此外，面对不断变化的全球气候，新出现的传染病的流行正在增加，并对人类和农业的健康构成更多的威胁。研究直接受到威胁的生物体或工业上使用的物种可以为免疫生物学、医学和进化以及新疗法的潜力提供独特的见解。NACI 2023将为研究广泛生物中的免疫系统的研究人员提供一个论坛，讨论比较免疫学的概念进展和实验技术。具体地说，国家科学基金会的资金将用于支付初级研究人员和来自当地大学的与会者的旅费，特别是来自主要本科院校(PUI)和历史上的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)的与会者的旅费，从而使受训人员能够参加这次会议。NACI会议提供了一个论坛，促进从进化角度对免疫功能感兴趣的科学家之间的合作。研究人员将展示在造血、抗菌肽、抗病毒反应、粘膜免疫、吞噬作用、微生物识别、抗原呈递、亲和力成熟和微生物组分析方面的前沿工作。然而，与更传统的免疫学会议不同，这项工作是在不同的分类群(如珊瑚、蜗牛、海胆、被囊类、肺鱼、鱼、青蛙和哺乳动物)中进行的。NACI会议提供了一个小型场所，鼓励学生参与，并促进所有职业阶段的科学家之间的联系。会议包括全体会议和海报会议，使学生能够从国际社会获得对他们工作的反馈。通过抵消注册和旅行费用，拟议的资金将使所有级别的研究人员能够参加这次会议。通过有目的地向美国东南部的机构进行招聘和有针对性的广告，并抵消历史上被排除在外的人口的成本，基金将把新的研究人员引入比较免疫学领域。计划中的研讨会将为所有与会者提供新的战略，以提高指导技能。NACI 2023年的成果将通过在NACI网站上发布摘要并邀请学生在适当的期刊上发表会议报告的方式进行传播。我们还将指定一个由博士后研究员或初级教职员工组成的社交媒体团队，他们将在会议期间现场推送演讲。通过在这次会议上通过参与者的性别、种族和民族多样性来补充科学多样性的广度，NACI 2023将直接有助于扩大该领域的参与。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The 13th North American Comparative Immunology (NACI) meeting will be held June 4 – 8, 2023 at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center in Auburn, AL. The primary objective of this meeting is to bring together researchers interested in immune responses in a wide range of organisms. Although the field of immunology has long benefitted from studies in model organisms, recent technological advances have enabled scientists to pursue research questions in previously unavailable organisms. Furthermore, in the face of a changing global climate the prevalence of emerging infectious diseases is increasing and posing additional threats to the health of both humans and agriculture. Studying organisms that are either directly threatened or species used in industry can provide unique insight into immunobiology, medicine and evolution and the potential for novel therapeutics. NACI 2023 will provide a forum for researchers studying immune systems in a broad array of organisms to discuss conceptual advances and experimental techniques in comparative immunology. Specifically, NSF funding will be used to make this meeting accessible to trainees by defraying travel costs for junior researchers and attendees from local universities particularly those from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). NACI meetings provide a forum to foster collaborations among scientists interested in immune function from an evolutionary perspective. Researchers will present cutting-edge work in hematopoiesis, antimicrobial peptides, antiviral responses, mucosal immunity, phagocytosis, microbial recognition, antigen presentation, affinity maturation and microbiome analysis. However, unlike more traditional immunology meetings, this work has been performed in a diverse range of taxa (e.g., corals, snails, sea urchins, tunicates, lungfish, fish, frogs, and mammals). NACI meetings provide a small venue that encourages student participation and fosters networking among scientists at all career stages. The meeting consists of plenary and poster sessions that enable students to receive feedback on their work from this international community. By offsetting registration and travel costs, the proposed funds will enable researchers at all levels to attend this meeting. Through intentional recruitment and targeted advertising to institutions throughout the southeastern U.S. and offsetting costs for historically-excluded populations, funds will introduce new researchers to the field of comparative immunology. A planned workshop will provide all attendees with novel strategies to improve mentoring skills. Results from NACI 2023 will be disseminated by posting abstracts on the NACI website and inviting students to publish a meeting report in an appropriate journal. We will also designate a social media team of postdoctoral fellows or junior faculty members who will “live-tweet” talks during the meeting. By complementing the breadth of scientific diversity at this meeting with gender, racial and ethnic diversity of its participants, NACI 2023 will directly contribute to broadening participation in the field.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.