Vaccines Against Antigenically Variable Viruses Symposium

 描述（由申请方提供）：抗原变异是一种免疫逃避性防御策略，通常被许多病毒利用。抗原可变病毒（AVV）是许多人类和兽医疾病的罪魁祸首，在全球范围内具有高发病率/死亡率和重大经济损失。病毒如HIV-1、流感病毒和PRRSV（猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒）是臭名昭著的例子，它们是人类在与传染病作斗争时面临的下一个科学挑战的缩影。考虑到抗原变异的科学挑战的艰巨性，我们认为必须进行更多的跨学科努力，以分享各学科的新进展，交流新概念， 不仅在研究相同病毒的人员之间，而且在研究不同病毒或不同学科的研究人员之间，促进新的合作。2014年6月，我们主办了第一届抗原可变病毒疫苗研讨会（VAAVV）。研讨会的出席情况很好，这表明（1）研讨会的独特性，（2）专题的科学重要性，以及（3）研讨会推动该领域向前发展的重要性。为了保持这一势头，我们提议在2015年和2016年再举办两次专题讨论会。举办专门开发VAAVV的研讨会的主要目的是建立一个强大的研究人员网络，以进行高度协作，综合和跨学科的研究。这将为开发新的策略奠定科学基础，并朝着生产针对这些病毒的有效且具有成本效益的疫苗的长期目标迈进。我们相信我们的研讨会是独特的，因为它主要集中在“抗原变异”的主题，而不是一个特定的病毒。据我们所知，没有类似的会议将研究不同病毒的研究人员聚集在一起，专注于这一重要主题。考虑到跨学科合作的重要性，研讨会将积极促进与会者之间的互动，为与会者提供专门的时间和空间，让他们有机会与演讲者直接互动。我们还将在与会者之间安排“科学速配”，以促进互动和促进合作研究。在这次研讨会上，与会者将分享，讨论和辩论与开发有效的VAAVV相关的许多问题，特别是关注HIV-1，流感病毒和PRRSV。许多主题将被讨论，包括目前的理解免疫相关的保护，新的见解，从计算，结构和系统生物学的合理免疫原设计，和新的策略，提高免疫反应的效力和广度。该提案的具体目标是：提供一个有效的场所，允许分享最先进的知识和交流创新思想，促进跨学科研究和促进合作，以克服疫苗开发中的抗原变异问题。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Antigenic variation is an immune-evasive, defensive strategy commonly exploited by many viruses. Antigenically variable viruses (AVV) are responsible for many human as well as veterinary diseases with high morbidity/mortality and significant economic losses worldwide. Viruses such as HIV-1, influenza virus and PRRSV (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus) are notorious examples and they epitomize the next level of scientific challenge that mankind faces in a fight against infectious diseases. Considering the enormity of the scientific challenges of antigenic variation, we believe more cross-disciplinary efforts mustbe made to share new advances in various scientific disciplines, exchange novel concepts, and to foster new collaborations between not only those who work on same viruses, but also among investigators who work on different viruses or different disciplines. In June 2014, we hosted the first Symposium on Vaccines Against Antigenically Variable Viruses (VAAVV). The symposium was well attended, which indicated (1) the uniqueness of the symposium, (2) scientific importance of the topic, and (3) significant need for the symposium to move the field forward. To continue the momentum, we are proposing to hold two additional symposia in 2015 and 2016. The major purpose of holding the symposia dedicated to developing VAAVV is to establish a strong network of investigators for conducting highly collaborative, integrative, and interdisciplinary research. This will establish the scientific foundation to develop novel strategis and make strides toward a long-term goal of producing efficacious and cost-effective vaccines against these viruses. We believe our symposium is unique in that it focuses primarily on the topic of "antigenic variation", rather than a specific virus. To our knowledge, there are no comparable meetings that bring together investigators who work on different viruses focusing on this important topic. Considering the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations, the symposium will be proactive in facilitating interactions among participants by providing "collaboration corners" with dedicated time and spaces for attendees to have opportunities to interact directly with speakers. We will also arrange "scientific speed dating" among attendees to facilitate interactions and to foster collaborative research. In this Symposium, participants wil share, discuss and debate many problems associated with developing effective VAAVV, focusing especially on HIV-1, influenza virus and PRRSV. Many topics will be discussed including current understanding immune correlates of protection, new insights from computational-, structuraland systems-biology for rational immunogen design, and novel strategies for enhancing potency and breadth of immune responses. The specific Aim of the proposal is: To provide an effective venue that would allow sharing of state-of-the-art knowledge and exchange of innovative ideas that could facilitate interdisciplinary research and foster collaboration in order to overcome the problem of antigenic variation in vaccine development.