Vaccine Renaissance Conference at the Institute for Immunology and Informatics

描述（由申请人提供）：鉴于H7N9禽流感等新型传染病的出现，被忽视的热带疾病的持续存在以及对生物恐怖主义的持续关注，疫苗研究人员必须有机会讨论疫苗学的最新进展，学习加速疫苗研究的新方法，并建立跨学科和跨机构的合作。疫苗复兴会议是由罗得岛大学免疫学和信息学研究所（iCubed）主办的独特，高质量和独立资助的（非商业）疫苗会议，并为国际，国家和地区疫苗开发人员提供了一个重要的机会，分享他们的研究，并在过去十年的七次成功活动中建立跨学科合作。疫苗复兴会议的主要目标是继续为讨论尖端疫苗研究提供一个独特的互动论坛，包括加速疫苗发现的新工具和技术。第二个目标是为学术研究人员、疫苗行业领导者和疫苗学学生提供一个讨论潜在合作的机会。与这些目标相一致，会议包括重点关注生物防御，全球健康，新型疫苗方法，新型疫苗载体和佐剂以及尖端疫苗相关免疫学研究的内容。此外，会议的特点是在研究所实验室内举办的会议中进行免疫信息学和基于实验室的技术的“实践”培训。为了扩大会议的影响范围并使讨论更容易获得，每年的“会议记录”都以参与者的评论和原创研究为特色，发表在备受推崇的《人类疫苗和免疫治疗》杂志上。到目前为止，已经成功举办了七次会议，为疫苗研究开辟了新的视角，同时也使包括许多妇女和少数民族学员在内的广泛的研究人员能够与既定的疫苗学家进行互动。在本提案中，我们提议将这一独特、非常成功和互动的会议再延长五年，即从2014年延长至2018年。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Given the emergence of novel infectious diseases such as avian influenza H7N9, the persistence of neglected tropical diseases and unremitting concerns about bio-terrorism, it is imperative for vaccine researchers to have the opportunity to discuss the latest advances in vaccinology, learn new methods to accelerate vaccine research, and establish inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations. The Vaccine Renaissance conference is a unique, high-quality and independently-funded (non-commercial) vaccine conference hosted by the Institute of Immunology and Informatics (iCubed) at the University of Rhode Island, and has provided international, national and regional vaccine developers with an important opportunity to share their research and establish interdisciplinary collaborations at seven successful events over the past decade. The primary objective of the Vaccine Renaissance Conference is to continue to provide a unique interactive forum for the discussion of cutting-edge vaccine research, including new tools and techniques for accelerating vaccine discovery. The secondary objective is to provide academic researchers, vaccine industry leaders and students of vaccinology with an opportunity to discuss potential collaborations. Consistent with these objectives, the conference includes content tracks focusing on biodefense, global health, novel vaccine approaches, new vaccine delivery vehicles and adjuvants, and cutting-edge vaccine-related immunology research. In addition, the conference features 'hands-on' training in immunoinformatics and bench-based techniques in sessions that are hosted within the laboratories of the Institute. To expand the reach of the conference and make the resulting discussions more accessible, an annual 'Proceedings' that features reviews and original research by the participants is published in the highly regarded journal Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. Seven successful, well-attended conferences have taken place to date, opening new perspectives in vaccine research while also enabling a wide range of researchers including many women and minority trainees to interact with established vaccinologists. In the current proposal, we propose to extend this unique, highly successful and interactive conference for five more years, from 2014 through 2018.