Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled Injury, Inflammation and Fibrosis, organized by Drs. Tatiana Kisseleva, Michael Karin and Andrew M. Tager. The meeting will be held in Snowbird, Utah from March 26-30, 2017. Fibrosis is a common response of many organs to chronic injury and inflammation. This leads to destruction of organ architecture with loss of function. Until recently, there have been no therapies to slow the progression of fibrosis and to maintain normal organ function. Recent advances have provided new insights into the pathogenesis of fibrosis, new drug targets, and new drugs in clinical studies. This conference will bring together basic biologists and translational and clinical researchers to discuss core mechanisms underlying inflammation and fibrosis, to compare and contrast fibrotic diseases, preclinical models, the potential for regeneration and regression of fibrosis, and potential therapies. The interaction between the host genetics, the environment and the microbiome in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases will be addressed. Also, non-invasive methods to assess fibrosis including advanced imaging and intermediate biomarkers will be discussed. This conference will be a unique opportunity for investigators who are focused on organ-specific diseases ? i.e., medical subspecialists ? to participate in cross-disciplinary, multi-organ discussions in order to gain new insights into their research. The general topic of this meeting is relevant to the NIDDK mission with respect to the broad area of pathologic fibrosis research ? with particular emphasis on targeting fibrosis in kidney, bone marrow, and urological diseases.
Despite extensive studies, the pathogenesis of fibrosis remains unresolved and, for some tissues, the major source of myofibroblasts either remains unclear or is still controversial. The Keystone Symposia meeting on Injury, Inflammation and Fibrosis will facilitate the interdisciplinary collaboration that will uncover common and unique signaling pathways that are critical in the pathogenesis of fibrosis. A major focus of this meeting will be to discuss novel scientific approaches to assess and target inflammatory wound healing and fibrogenic responses.
