2011 Immunology of Fungal Infections Gordon Research Conference

描述(由申请人提供)： 这项提案要求部分支持将于2011年1月16日至21日在德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿举行的新的戈登研究会议系列会议的真菌疾病免疫学会议。本次会议的广泛和长期目标是首次将这一迅速发展的领域中世界领先的研究人员聚集在一起，促进跨学科的讨论和合作，以增进我们对抗真菌免疫的了解，目的是为控制这些病原体发展新的见解。本次会议的具体目标将是召集40多名涵盖这一新领域关键领域的主要专家，共有150人参加，在相对孤立的环境中举行为期五天的会议。该计划将分为九个环节，涵盖真菌病原体相关分子模式(PAMPS)、天然真菌识别机制、抗真菌适应性免疫反应及其调节、器官特异性免疫、免疫缺陷和免疫调节对真菌疾病的影响、对特定真菌病原体的免疫，以及两个侧重于免疫治疗和疫苗接种的转化研究。此外，下午的海报会议将允许所有参与者为这些主题做出贡献。将尽一切努力鼓励研究生和博士后参与，使妇女人数均等，并将少数群体和残疾人包括在内。这项申请的意义在于，这次戈登研究会议将提供有史以来第一个论坛，将致力于真菌感染免疫学工作的国际研究界成员聚集在一起并协同工作。这一应用程序与健康有关的是，所产生的讨论将有助于确定与基础科学有关的重要问题，以及开发新的免疫治疗战略所需的问题；这些问题是迫切需要的，以降低与这些毁灭性疾病的系统性形式相关的非常高的死亡率。 项目说明： 在正常宿主反应的背景下，真菌通常是无害的，但现代医疗实践、各种外科干预措施以及艾滋病大流行(特别是在第三世界国家)导致了相当大一部分患者群体的免疫缺陷和对真菌疾病的易感性。念珠菌等酵母菌目前在美国最常见的医院败血症病原体排行榜上排名第四，全球每年约有70万例系统性和侵袭性曲霉病病例以及100多万例隐球菌病病例。大约一半患有侵袭性真菌病的患者死于他们的疾病，但尽管真菌感染很重要，但对真菌感染的研究一直落后于其他病原体。本次戈登研究会议上对当前研究的讨论将确定需要解决的重要问题，以开发控制真菌感染的新免疫治疗策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests partial support for a meeting on the Immunology of Fungal Diseases as part of a new Gordon Research Conference series to be held in Galveston, Texas, January 16 - 21, 2011. The broad and long-term goal of this conference is to bring together, for the first time, the world's leading researchers in this rapidly expanding field to foster cross-disciplinary discussions and collaborations, so as to enhance our understanding of anti-fungal immunity with the aim of developing new insights for controlling these pathogens. The specific aims of this meeting will be to convene over 40 leading experts that cover critical areas within this new field, with a total of 150 participants for a five-day conference in a relatively isolated setting. The program will be structured into nine sessions covering fungal pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPS), the mechanism of innate fungal recognition, the anti-fungal adaptive immune response and its regulation, organ- specific immunity, the effects of immunodeficiency and of immunomodulation on fungal diseases, immunity to specific fungal pathogens, and two sessions on translational research focused on immunotherapy and vaccination. In addition, afternoon poster sessions will permit all participants to contribute to these topics. Every effort will be made to encourage participation by postgraduate students and post-docs, to have parity in the numbers of women, and to include minorities and persons with disabilities. The significance of this application is that this Gordon Research Conference will provide the first-ever forum for bringing together and synergizing members of the international research community working on the immunology of fungal infections. The health relatedness of this application is that the discussions generated will help define the important questions relating to basic science but also those required for the development of novel strategies for immunotherapy; which are desperately required so as to reduce the very high levels of mortality associated with systemic forms of these devastating diseases. Project Narrative: Fungi are usually harmless in the context of normal host responses, but modern medical practices, a variety of surgical interventions, and the AIDS pandemic (particularly in third world countries), have led to immune deficiencies and susceptibility to fungal disease in a significant proportion of the patient population. Yeasts such as Candida are now fourth place on the list of the most frequent nosocomial sepsis agents in the USA, and there are about 700,000 cases of systemic and invasive Aspergillosis and over one million cases of cryptococcosis per year worldwide. Approximately half of the patients who suffer from invasive mycoses die from their disease, but despite their importance, the study of fungal infections has lagged behind those of other pathogens. The discussions of current research at this Gordon Research Conference will define important questions that need to be addressed for the development of new immunotherapeutic strategies for the control of fungal infections.