International Workshop on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP-12, 13 and 14)

描述（由申请人提供）：此R13申请提案涵盖机会主义原生主义者国际研讨会的下一系列会议（即IWOP-12， IWOP-13和IWOP-14）。这次会议专门讨论在免疫系统有缺陷的患者中引起严重问题的原生生物，例如那些接受免疫抑制治疗或患有免疫系统衰弱疾病（如艾滋病）的患者。许多这些知之甚少的病原体最初是由于它们在机会性环境（如艾滋病毒/艾滋病和移植）中的频率增加而被识别出来的；然而，现在人们认识到，这些也是免疫能力强的宿主的病原体。其中一些生物，由于它们通过食物和水传播，也是生物防御B类病原体和环境保护机构（EPA）感兴趣的病原体。IWOP会议于1988年发起，目的是为小型但日益增长的国际科学界提供服务，这些科学界对研究不寻常的、不可培养的肺囊虫病感兴趣。当时，肺囊虫病还不为人所知，被微生物学界的许多人所忽视。有必要召开一次小型会议，让科学家们可以交流从处理这些“困难”的生物体中获得的新技术和经验。IWOP讲习班的一项基本原则是通过公开参加会议促进信息的自由交流。第二届至第十一届IWOP会议发展到包括其他机会主义生物为基础的社区团体，他们经历了肺囊虫社区面临的许多研究挑战。IWOP会议现在包括关于隐孢子虫的研究报告；小孢子虫目;刚地弓形虫;自由生活的致病性变形虫。近年来，IWOP也开始成为动质体鞭毛虫和其他真核微生物寄生虫研究人员的论坛，这些寄生虫是由不同的基因型引起的，或者在免疫缺陷个体中表现出与免疫正常患者不同的病理。今天，IWOP会议被认为是大多数肺孢子虫、隐孢子虫和微孢子虫研究人员最重要的会议。在这次会议上，以社区为基础的项目（如基因组测序、动物模型、培养技术等）和共识文件（如分类学地位、研究重点和命名标准）得到了发展。对于这些研究团体来说，这是一次重要的会议，这些研究团体专注于这种困难的致病原生生物。由于许多这些生物在较大的真菌或寄生虫学会议上没有得到很好的代表，如果不再举行这个重要的论坛，研究进展显然会受到严重阻碍。IWOP-12计划于2012年8月在纽约州塔里敦进行，IWOP-13计划于2014年8月在西班牙塞维利亚进行；以及2016年7月在俄亥俄州辛辛那提举行的IWOP-14。

Description (as provided by the applicant): This proposed R13 application covers the next series of meetings of the International Workshop on Opportunistic Protists (i.e. IWOP-12, IWOP-13 and IWOP-14). This meeting is devoted to protists that cause serious problems in patients with defective immune systems, such as those receiving immunosuppressive therapies or with immune system debilitating diseases, such as AIDS. Many of these poorly understood pathogens were initially recognized due to their increased frequency in opportunistic settings, such as in HIV/AIDS and transplantation; however, it is now appreciated that these are also pathogens of immune competent hosts. Several of these organisms, due to their transmission by food and water, are also biodefense category B pathogens and environmental protection agency (EPA) pathogens of interest. The IWOP meeting was initiated in 1988 to serve the small, but growing international scientific community interested in working with the unusual, non-cultivatable organism Pneumocystis. At the time, Pneumocystis was relatively unknown and was ignored by many in the microbiological community. There was a need for a small meeting where scientists could exchange new techniques and experiences gained from working with these 'difficult' organisms. A basic tenet of the IWOP Workshops is a free exchange of information facilitated by open admission to the meeting. The second through eleventh IWOP meetings grew to include other opportunistic organism-based community groups that experience many of the research challenges facing the Pneumocystis community. The IWOP meetings now include research presentations on Cryptosporidia; Microsporidia; Toxoplasma gondii; and free-living amebae that are pathogenic. In recent years, IWOP has also begun serving as a forum for researchers of kinetoplastid flagellates and other eukaryotic microbial parasites that are caused by different genotypes or present pathologies in immune deficient individuals distinct from that observed in immune competent patients. Today, the IWOP meeting is regarded as the most important meeting for most researchers of Pneumocystis, Cryptosporidia, and Microsporidia. It is the meeting at which community based projects (e.g. genome sequencing, animal models, culture techniques, etc.) and consensus papers (i.e. taxonomic status, research priorities, and nomenclature standards) have been developed. It is a critical meeting for these research communities focused on this difficult pathogenic protists. Because many of these organisms are not well represented in larger fungal or parasitology meetings, research progress would clearly be severely hampered if this important forum was no longer held. IWOP-12 is scheduled for August 2012 in Tarrytown, NY, IWOP-13 for August 2014 in Seville, Spain; and IWOP-14 for July 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Public Health Relevance: The International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP) is a series of meetings devoted to infections (termed opportunistic infections) that cause serious problems in AIDS patients and other individuals with defective immune systems. The 1st meeting in 1988 was initiated to serve the international scientific community interested in working with the unusual, non-cultivable organism Pneumocystis, which causes pneumonia and is the direct cause of death in many AIDS patients. At the time, Pneumocystis was relatively unknown and was ignored by many in the microbiological community. There was a need for a small meeting where scientists could exchange new techniques and experiences gained from working with these organisms that are difficult to work with in the laboratory. A basic tenet of IWOP is the free exchange of information facilitated by open admission to the meeting. The 2nd through 11th Workshops grew to include other opportunistic organism-based scientific communities that experience many of the same research challenges facing the Pneumocystis community. IWOP now includes research presentations on Cryptosporidium; the Microsporidia, both causing AIDS associated chronic diarrhea; Toxoplasma gondii, which can cause encephalitis in AIDS patients; and the free-living amebae which cause encephalitis in immune deficient people. In recent years, IWOP has begun serving as a forum for researchers of other neglected pathogens in AIDS patients including the kinetoplastid flagellates Leishmania and Trypanosoma cruzi. IWOP has evolved into a crucial forum for the dissemination of information on diverse and often neglected eukaryotic microbial parasites presenting altered disease profiles in immune compromised patients and other animals. IWOP is regarded as the most important meeting for researchers working on Pneumocystis, Cryptosporidium, and the Microsporidia. Although the opportunistic protists are difficult to study significant advances have resulted from the scientific interactions facilitated by the bi-annual IWOP meetings.