2020 International Meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses

摘要/摘要 乙肝病毒感染是一个重大的全球公共卫生问题，有超过2.9亿人 在全球范围内被慢性感染。值得注意的是，慢性乙肝病毒感染与心脏病风险增加有关。 肝细胞癌是全球癌症相关死亡的第二大原因。 尽管预防性乙肝疫苗有效，但仍无法治愈慢性乙肝感染或 由此导致的肝癌。迫切需要发现新的治疗策略来治愈慢性乙肝 感染与肝细胞癌发病机制。因此，全球乙肝科学界必须继续作出有针对性的 向了解乙肝病毒生物合成和疾病发病机制的关键、未回答的方面迈进。 乙肝病毒分子生物学年会是唯一一个汇聚 研究乙肝病毒生物合成和致病机制的国际科学家社区 及其密切相关的丁型肝炎病毒(HDV)。这次关于乙肝病毒的国际会议已经 自1985年以来每年举办一次，在北美、欧洲、亚洲和澳大利亚轮流举行。2020年，会议 将在加拿大多伦多举行。乙肝病毒领域的成功和成就有赖于 不仅是成熟的研究人员，更重要的是，关于拥有/正在进行的早期职业研究人员(ECR) 决定进军这一领域，带来新的技术和理念。因此，《公约》的具体目标 此R13应用程序：促进和最大限度地提高早期职业研究人员/ECR的出勤率和参与度 (研究生和博士后研究员)在2020年国际乙肝会议上。 2020年的会议将为科学交流和传播最新研究提供舞台 结果可能会影响新的乙肝和丁型肝炎病毒感染的治疗策略。据估计，500-600人 与会代表将出席2020年会议。会议的组织将包括8个口头科学会议。 和5个海报会议，包括第一次，电子海报演示，作为早期职业生涯的培训阶段 科学家。为了支持全球治愈乙肝病毒的科学战略的目标，主旨演讲者将提出新的 观点和技术，并讨论可应用于推进乙肝病毒领域的标准。为了提高 在每个会议日结束时，组织科学互动和科学交流、社交聚会。 值得注意的是，自2005年以来，国际乙肝会议得到了乙肝的持续支持 基金会，最大限度地减少会议成本，并将会议向拥有大量 代表不足的少数族裔。 为了使早期职业实习生和代表性不足的少数群体调查员能够参与，来自 国家卫生研究院被要求帮助支付旅行费用。这笔资金将用于确保 早期职业研究人员的出席和演讲，特别是来自欠发达国家的 研究能力不足，以及少数族裔调查人员任职人数不足。

ABSTRACT/SUMMARY Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a significant global public health problem, with over 290 million people worldwide being chronically infected. Significantly, chronic HBV infection is associated with increased risk for development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite the effectiveness of the prophylactic HBV vaccine, there is no cure for chronic HBV infection or the resultant liver cancer. There is compelling need to discover new therapeutic strategies to cure chronic HBV infection and HCC pathogenesis. Thus, the global HBV scientific community must continue to make directed strides towards understanding key, unanswered aspects of HBV biosynthesis and disease pathogenesis. The annual meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses is the only forum that brings together the international community of scientists who study mechanisms of biosynthesis and pathogenesis by HBV and and its closely associated hepatitis delta virus (HDV). This International meeting on Hepatitis B Viruses has been held yearly since 1985, alternating at sites in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In 2020, the meeting will be held in Toronto, Canada. The success and achievements of the HBV field relies on the contributions of not only the established investigators but more importantly, on early career researchers (ECRs) that have/are deciding to enter the field, bringing with them new technology and concepts. Accordingly, the Specific Aim of this R13 application is: to promote and maximize attendance and participation of early career researchers/ECRs (graduate students & postdoctoral fellows) at the 2020 International HBV Meeting. The 2020 meeting will provide the stage for scientific exchange and dissemination of the latest research results that could influence new therapeutic strategies for HBV and HDV infections. It is estimated that 500-600 delegates will attend the 2020 meeting. The organization of the meeting will consist of 8 oral scientific sessions and 5 poster sessions including for the first time, e-poster presentations, as a training stage for early career scientists. In support of the goal of the global scientific strategy to cure HBV, keynote speakers will present new perspectives and technologies, and discuss standards that can be applied to advance the HBV field. To improve scientific interactions and scientific exchange, social gatherings are organized at the end of each meeting day. Significantly, since 2005, the International HBV meeting enjoys the continuing support from the Hepatitis B Foundation, minimizing the meeting costs, and publicizing the meeting to universities with large numbers of underrepresented minorities. To enable participation of early career trainees and underrepresented minority investigators, support from the National Institutes of Health to help defray the travel costs is requested. This funding will be used to ensure attendance and presentations by early career researchers, particularly from countries with lesser developed research capacity, as well as underrepresented minority investigators.