Support for the 7th Aquatic Models of Human Disease Conference

描述(申请人提供)：水生动物模型在促进我们对人类疾病起源的了解方面发挥了重要作用，也有助于研究和确定与疾病诊断、预防和治疗相关的药物靶标和测试。在许多情况下，人类疾病的动物模型的最佳选择是水生动物；最广为人知的是斑马鱼，但利用极其多样化的水生动物的独特属性来解决迄今为止与人类疾病相关的难以接近的问题的研究人员社区正在增长。这些独特的水生动物模型代表了广泛的创新研究、方法和技术，以提高对人类疾病复杂性的概念性理解。人类疾病水生动物模型会议是主要的会议，它广泛地关注用于研究全面人类疾病的多种水生模型。与任何其他会议或场所相比，它是独一无二的，因为它提供了一个论坛，让研究人员对广泛的水生模型的整个范围进行研究，这些水生模型被用来更好地了解人类疾病的大范围。该系列的第七届会议旨在汇聚美国和世界各地在人类疾病研究中使用水生动物模型的研究人员，会议将由德克萨斯州立大学主办，于2014年12月13日至18日在德克萨斯州奥斯汀郊外举行。该项目由该领域公认的领导者设计，旨在提供有关在生物医学研究中使用水生动物的进展的最新信息。将通过一系列平台会议和海报会议以及四个“分组”讲习班，实现信息传播、正式和非正式参与讨论以及协作交流意见。将通过旅行奖励等机制，积极招募新的调查员、妇女、残疾调查员和任职人数不足的少数群体参加本次会议。将邀请和鼓励资助机构的代表参加会议的所有方面，特别是关于人类疾病研究优先事项和指导外部支助战略的最后会议。过去会议的记录已发表在一份科学期刊的特刊上，我们将继续这一传播机制，并试图出版一本书，全面审查水生动物模型的状况及其在人类疾病研究中的使用。在这次会议上提出的科学将在为人类疾病研究提供新的方法方面产生重大影响，同时将提供一个论坛，招募新的研究人员进入该领域。这些会议的一个结果，特别是这次会议，是为新的研究人员提供所需的想法、背景和指导，以提高向多个NIH研究所提交的拨款申请的质量。与公共卫生的相关性：本次会议的重点是开发和应用动物模型来研究人类疾病。与啮齿动物或其他哺乳动物模型相比，水生动物具有许多优势和属性，可以使它们成为研究复杂科学问题的更好选择。这次会议的主要成果将是传播这一知识、培训和指导该领域的新研究人员，并将导致寻求新的和创新的方法，以提供有助于改善人类健康的各种疾病的成果、信息和知识。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Aquatic animal models have played important roles in advancing our understanding of the origins of human disease and have also contributed to the study and identification of drug targets and tests associated with the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease. In many cases, the best choice for an animal model of human disease is aquatic; the most-widely known is zebrafish but the community of investigators exploiting the unique attributes of extremely varied aquatic animals to address heretofore unapproachable questions related to human disease is growing. These unique aquatic animal models represent a wide-range of innovative studies, methods and technologies that improve the conceptual understanding of the complexity of human disease. The Aquatic Animal Models for Human Disease Conference is the primary conference that focuses broadly on multiple aquatic models used to investigate the full range of human diseases. It is unique compared to any other conference or venue in providing a forum for the entire breadth of investigator's approaches to a wide collection of aquatic models that are employed to better understand a large spectrum of human diseases. The 7th conference in this series seeks to bring together researchers from the U.S. and around the world that employ aquatic animal models in their studies of human diseases, The conference will be hosted by the Texas State University and held outside Austin, Texas on December 13-18, 2014. The program has been designed by recognized leaders in the field to provide state-of-the-art information on advances in the use of aquatic animals in biomedical research. The dissemination of information, formal and informal engagement in discussion, and collaborative exchange of ideas will be achieved through a series of platform and poster sessions as well as four "break-out" workshops. New investigators, women, investigators with disabilities and under-represented minorities will be actively recruited to participate in this meeting through mechanisms such as travel awards. Representatives from funding institutes will be invited and encouraged to participate in all aspects of the meeting, especially the final session on priorities of human disease research and strategies for guiding extramural support. The proceedings from past meetings have been published in special issues of a scientific journal and we will continue that mechanism for dissemination as well as attempt to publish a book that will provide a comprehensive review of the state of aquatic animal models and their use in human disease research. The science presented at this meeting will have a great impact in providing new approaches to the study of human disease and will simultaneously provide a forum to recruit new investigators into this field. One outcome of these gatherings and this meeting in particular, is to provide new investigators with the ideas, background and mentoring required to improve the quality of grant applications submitted to multiple NIH institutes. Relevance to Public Health: The focus of this conference is on the development and application of animal models to study human disease. Aquatic animals have many advantages and attributes that can make them superior choices compared to rodent or other mammalian models to investigate complex scientific questions. The main outcome of this meeting will be dissemination of this knowledge, training and mentoring of new investigators in this field and will result in the pursuit of novel and innovative approaches designed to provide results, information and knowledge that will contribute to improving human health across a broad collection of diseases.