2013 International Meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请为青年科学家参加定于10月20日至23日在中国上海复旦大学上海医学院举行的2013年乙型肝炎病毒分子生物学国际会议提供旅费。该会议自1985年以来连续举行，是唯一一个聚集国际社会关注乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）和密切相关的丁型肝炎病毒（HDV）的研究人员的论坛。世界上大约四分之一的人口感染了乙肝病毒，3.5亿人仍然是慢性感染者，其中1500万人同时感染了HDV。因此，每年有近100万人死于慢性HBV感染的并发症，包括肝功能衰竭、肝硬化和肝细胞癌。目前的抗病毒治疗既昂贵又无效。尽管接种了预防性疫苗，但由于疫苗利用不足和难以阻断受感染母亲的围产期传播，新的乙型肝炎病毒感染继续出现。因此，必须继续开展HBV的基础研究，并及时讨论和传播该领域的最新进展。2013年会议的一个独特之处在于，它将首次在中国举行，中国是全球三分之一慢性乙型肝炎携带者的家园。预计这次会议将促进中国研究人员与外部世界专家之间的科学交流，并在不久的将来导致富有成效的合作。除了10场口头会议和2场海报会议外，2013年会议的研讨会将讨论慢性HBV感染如何导致肝细胞癌，并评估抗病毒治疗的影响。主题演讲将由HBV领域备受尊敬的领导者William Mason进行，他将总结该领域的主要成就，并指出需要进一步研究的问题。其中一个领域是HBV受体的性质和HBV生命周期的早期事件。在这方面，Charles Rice博士的主题演讲将重点介绍在识别丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）受体和重建HCV感染小鼠模型方面的最新进展。和过去一样，已经尽了很大的努力把会议的费用降到最低。自2005年以来，乙型肝炎基金会坚定地承诺支持这一会议，为会议提供一个永久的场所，并提供工作人员来宣传会议，特别是在有大量少数民族的大学。为了允许初级和少数民族研究者的参与，NIH的支持将帮助支付会议的费用

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is a request for funding to support the travel expenses for young scientists to attend the 2013 International Meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses, scheduled for Oct. 20 - 23 at Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. This meeting, which has been held consecutively since 1985, is the only forum that gathers the international community of researchers focusing on the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the closely associated hepatitis delta virus (HDV). Approximately a quarter of the world's population has been infected by HBV, and 350 million remain chronically infected of which 15 million are co- infected with HDV. As a result, nearly a million people die annually from complications of chronic HBV infection including liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current antiviral therapies are costly and ineffective. New HBV infections continue to arise despite the prophylactic vaccine, due to both underutilization of the vaccine and difficulty n interrupting perinatal transmission from infected mothers. It is therefore imperative that basic research on HBV continues and latest progress in the field is discussed and disseminated in a timely manner. A unique feature of the 2013 meeting is that it will be held for the first time in China, home to one-third of chronic hepatitis B carriers worldwide. It is anticipated that the meeting will promote lively scientific exchange between Chinese researchers and experts from the outside world and lead to fruitful collaborations in the near future. Besides the 10 oral sessions and two poster sessions, the workshop for the 2013 meeting will debate how chronic HBV infection causes hepatocellular carcinoma and evaluate the impact of antiviral therapy. The keynote speech by William Mason, a respected leader in the HBV field, will summarize major accomplishments of the field and point out matters requiring further investigation. One such area is the nature of the HBV receptor and early events in HBV lifecycle. In this regard Dr. Charles Rice's keynote speech will highlight the recent progress in identifying receptors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and reconstituting a mouse model of HCV infection. As in the past, great effort has been made to minimize the cost of the meeting. Since 2005, the Hepatitis B Foundation has made a strong commitment to support this meeting by providing a permanent home for the meeting and making its staff available for publicizing the meeting, especially to universities with large numbers of underrepresented minorities. In order to allow the participation of junior and minority investigators, support from the NIH to help defray the meeting costs is requested.