Lymphocyte Kinetics in Health and Disease: a workshop

免疫细胞动力学是人类健康的关键决定因素。免疫细胞增殖和死亡之间的正确平衡保证了免疫系统的功能，免疫系统包含足够范围和数量的细胞，能够识别和摧毁所有病原体。动态平衡失调是许多疾病的基础，包括艾滋病（免疫细胞耗竭）和白血病（异常免疫细胞生长）。因此，了解免疫细胞动力学是了解人体免疫系统健康和疾病的先决条件。在过去的十年中，在实验技术和解释这些实验所需的数学方面取得了重大进展，使人类免疫细胞动力学的测量成为可能。然而，不同的数学和实验技术可以给出明显不同的答案。迄今为止，对于应该使用哪些技术还没有达成共识。免疫细胞动力学建模本质上是一门交叉学科。目前还没有讨论免疫细胞动力学建模的论坛，因此数学家和实验家参加他们单一主题的会议，很少有机会见面。这个为期两天的跨学科研讨会的目的是将免疫细胞动力学方面的数学家和免疫学家聚集在一起，交流思想，传播知识，发起合作，并最终就最佳数学和实验技术达成共识。

Immune cell dynamics are a crucial determinant of human health. The correct balance between immune cell proliferation and death guarantees a functioning immune system that contains cells of sufficient range and quantity to be able to recognize and destroy all pathogens. Dysregulation of the dynamic balance underpins many pathologies including AIDS (immune cell depletion) and leukemia (aberrant immune cell growth). Understanding immune cell dynamics is therefore a prerequisite for understanding the human immune system both in health and disease.In the last 10 years significant advances in experimental techniques and in the mathematics needed to interpret these experiments have enabled the measurement of immune cell dynamics in humans. However, different mathematical and experimental techniques can give significantly different answers. To date, there is no consensus on which techniques should be used. Modelling of immune cell dynamics is an intrinsically interdisciplinary subject. There is currently no forum to discuss the modeling of immune cell dynamics and so mathematicians and experimentalists attend their single subject-specific conferences and have little opportunity to meet. The aim of this two day interdisciplinary workshop is to bring together mathematicians and immunologists who are experts in immune cell dynamics with a view to exchange ideas, disseminate knowledge, initiate collaborations and ultimately to reach a consensus on the optimal mathematical and experimental techniques.