This conference grant application requests funds to support the first International Congress on Oncogenic Herpesvirus and Associated Disease. This meeting is unique and innovative in that it will serve as the first combined meeting of the International Workshop on Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) and Related Agents (15th Annual Meeting) and the International Symposium on Epstein-Barr Virus and Associated Diseases (15th Biennial Meeting). The funds will be used to reduce the travel and registration costs to US pre- and post-doctoral trainees in viral oncology. The goals of the meeting are consistent with the mission statements of the NIH, NCI, NIAID, and NIDCR, namely, to advance and promote the pace of research on chronic infections associated with human cancer and other rare diseases, especially in the setting of HIV- AIDS. The Conference will be co-hosted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Abramson Cancer Center, the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry, and the Wistar Institute Cancer Center. It will take place August 1-5th 2012 in the Sheraton Downtown Hotel located in center city Philadelphia. All remaining costs for this conference will be raised from registration fees paid by conferees and contributions from host institutions, foundations, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The main focus of the meeting is on the biology of oncogenic herpesviruses and associated human diseases, with specific focus on viral pathogenesis, viral latency and reactivation, viral gene expression and replication, host responses to infection, epidemiology, vaccine development, and therapeutic intervention. In addition to EBV and KSHV, studies related to herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), murine herpesvirus-68 (MHV-68), rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV), and rhesus lymphocryptovirus (rhLCV) will be presented. In addition, the program contains an open forum discussion on novel developments in the field that need attention by the scientific community. Subjects covered by these sessions, which are moderated by a volunteer stake holder in the field have been evolved over the years and have covered issues ranging from: the need for cross-validation for viral detection and diagnostics, the risk of virus contamination for blood bank safety, and the development of effective vaccines and anti-viral therapies. To further encourage the presentation of novel data, the conference provides the opportunity for a late breaker session for a few chosen abstracts that can be submitted at a deadline close to the conference date.
Human viruses are responsible for >17% of all human cancers. It is estimated that ~400,000 new cancer cases per year (est. for 2011) can be attributed to chronic infection of a human gammaherpesvirus. Both EBV and KSHV infect a large percentage of the adult human population, and have complex cofactor roles in a variety of malignancies, including Kaposi's Sarcroma, pleural effusion lymphoma, and Multicentric Castleman's disease for KSHV, and Burkitt's lymphomas, nasopharyngeal carcinomas, gastric carcinomas, Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and NK/T cell lymphomas for EBV. Many of these cancers are elevated in HIV- AIDS and other forms of immunosuppression, including treatments for organ transplant and autoimmune disease. Many of the viral-associated malignancies are endemic to geographical locations throughout the developing and developed world, and may have complex genetic predispositions or high-risk environmental cofactors. Several therapeutic approaches have been explored, including vaccination and small molecule anti- viral therapies, but to date, no standard clinical approach has succeeded in achieving long-term protection or treatment of these viral associated malignancies and related diseases.
