International Conference on Hepatitis B Viruses

描述（由申请人提供）：B肝炎病毒（HBV）仍然是一个主要的公共卫生问题，有3.5亿慢性携带者面临肝衰竭、肝硬化和肝癌的风险。虽然重组疫苗是可用的，但它有5-10%的失败率，治疗选择仍然有限。通过更好地理解病毒进入、复制和发病机制中涉及的病毒-宿主相互作用，以及更好地定义病毒持续存在与清除的决定因素，可以加快治疗和预防的进展。拟议的会议旨在聚集约200名研究乙型肝炎病毒和相关动物模型病毒不同方面的科学家，共同讨论最新的概念和技术进展。自1985年以来，每年举行一次的HBV会议是唯一的HBV和相关病毒的基础科学会议。这项申请的主要目的是为青年科学家筹集旅费。2004年HBV会议将于2004年10月24日至27日在马萨诸塞州的伍兹霍尔举行。会议将由胡建明博士和Fabien Zoulim博士组织。他们将得到一个专家小组的协助HBV科学家担任会议主席。2004年将再次强调让更多妇女和少数民族担任领导职务的计划。11场口头会议将包括：新模型和病毒进入;转录和复制;装配和形态发生;调节蛋白; HBV变异体;免疫学;发病机制;丁型肝炎病毒;肝细胞癌;免疫调节;和抗病毒治疗。每场会议将包括从提交的摘要中选出的6个演讲。将特别鼓励年轻科学家参加这些会议。每个主题的海报将在两个海报会议上展示。此外，一个研讨会将重点关注清除慢性HBV感染的方法，这需要在HBV研究的所有领域取得进展。最后，来自HBV领域以外的两位顶尖科学家将发表主题演讲：一位是关于结构病毒学的，这是一个关于HBV的主题;另一位是关于逆转录病毒的，它与HBV有关，是一种副逆转录病毒。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a major public health problem, with 350 million chronic carriers at risk of hepatic failure, cirrhosis and liver cancer. While a recombinant vaccine is available, it has a 5-10% failure rate, and treatment options are still limited. Progress in treatment and prevention can be expedited by a better understanding of the virus-host interactions involved in viral entry, replication, and pathogenesis and a better definition of the determinants for viral persistence versus clearance. The proposed conference is intended to gather about 200 scientists studying different aspects of HBV and related animal model viruses for joint discussions of the latest conceptual and technical advances. Held annually since 1985, the HBV meeting is the only basic science meeting on HBV and the related viruses. The primary goal of this application is to raise funds for travel grants to junior scientists. The 2004 HBV Meeting will be held in Woods Hole, MA, from Oct. 24-27, 2004. It will be organized by Drs. Jianming Hu and Fabien Zoulim. They will be assisted by a panel of expert HBV scientists serving as session chairs. Plans to involve more women and minorities in leadership positions will be emphasized again in 2004. The 11 oral sessions will include: new models and viral entry; transcription and replication; assembly and morphogenesis; regulatory proteins; HBV variants; immunology; pathogenesis; hepatitis delta virus; hepatocellular carcinoma; immunomodulation; and antiviral therapy. Each session will consist of 6 talks selected from submitted abstracts. Younger scientists will be particularly encouraged to participate in these sessions. Posters for each of the topics will be presented in two poster sessions. In addition, a workshop will focus on approaches to clearing chronic HBV infections, which necessitates advances in all areas of HBV research. Finally, two leading scientists from outside the HBV field will deliver keynote addresses: one on structural virology, a topic that remains to be fully addressed for HBV; the other on retroviruses, which are related to HBV, a pararetrovirus.