CONFERENCE--AUTUMN IMMUNOLOGY CONFERENCE

秋季免疫学会议（AIC）自1971年以来每年举行一次。1999年的会议将于11月19日至21日在伊利诺伊州芝加哥市市中心的万豪酒店举行；2000年和2001年会议的地点和日期仍在与芝加哥的酒店协商中。会议成立的目的是为研究和思想交流提供一个论坛，特别是针对研究生和博士后的需求。大多数教师、学生和与会者都来自中西部各州，但会议正越来越多地吸引来自美国其他地区的与会者。出席会议和提交摘要的人数稳步增加，1997年会议共有542名与会者和181份摘要。会议的形式包括三个专题讨论会，涵盖当前免疫学研究领域。来自美国和国外的杰出科学家在每次研讨会上由四位演讲者讲述他们自己的研究。研讨会中穿插着海报会议和研讨会，参与者就他们的研究发表简短的演讲。来自中西部的教师主持这些研讨会，为学生和博士后提供一个论坛，分享他们的研究，接受反馈，并获得演讲技巧方面的专业知识，这些研讨会具有特殊的价值。研讨会的演讲者被要求并通常同意参加整个会议；他们出席和参与工作坊和海报会议为学员提供了额外的宝贵反馈。AIC由AIC理事会组织，该理事会由代表参与的中西部各州和机构的教师和行业科学家组成。全体理事会每年在大会上开会，其中的一个子集，执行委员会，在春季举行额外的会议，以计划具体的会议细节。美国移民协会通过其约翰·华莱士少数族裔旅游奖励计划鼓励未被充分代表的少数族裔群体参与。AIC最近发起了职业免疫学计划，以鼓励本科生参加会议。AIC是一个非常成功的区域免疫学会议，对已建立的研究人员之间的思想交流以及对新科学家的培训产生了重大影响。

The Autumn Immunology Conference (AIC) has been held annually since 1971. The 1999 meeting will be held Nov. 19-21 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Chicago, IL; the locations and dates for the 2000 and 2001 meetings are still being negotiated with hotels in Chicago. The meeting was founded with the intent of providing a forum for the exchange of research and ideas, particularly tailored to the needs of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Most of faculty, student, and fellow attendees are from the Midwest states, but the meeting is increasingly attracting more participants from other regions of the country. The attendance and submitted abstracts have steadily increased, with 542 participants and 181 abstracts presented at the 1997 conference. The format of the meeting includes three symposia covering current areas of immunological research. Distinguished scientists from throughout the US and abroad speak about their own research with four speakers per symposium. Interspersed among the symposia are poster sessions and workshops, in which participants present brief talks on their research. Faculty from the Midwest chair these workshops, which are of special value in providing a forum for students and postdoctoral fellows to share their research, receive feedback, and gain expertise in presentation skills. Symposium speakers are asked and usually agree to attend the entire meeting; their attendance and participation in the workshops and poster sessions provide additional valuable feedback for trainees. The AIC is organized by the AIC Council, which is composed of faculty and industry scientists representing participating Midwest states and institutions. The full Council meets each year at the conference, and a subset thereof, the Executive Committee, holds an additional meeting in the spring to plan specific meeting details. The AIC encourages the participation of underrepresented minority groups through its John Wallace Minority Travel Award program. The AIC has recently initiated the Careers in Immunology program to encourage the participation of undergraduate students in the meeting. The AIC is a highly successful regional immunology meeting, and has a major impact on the exchange of ideas between established investigators, as well as the training of new scientists.