? This application is intended to apply for funding support for the expenses necessary to host the 2008 International Meeting: The Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses (HBV Meeting), scheduled to be held from August 17 through 21, 2008 at the University of California San Diego campus in La Jolla, CA. This is the next scheduled meeting in an annual series that has been held continuously since 1985. This meeting represents the only meeting that brings together basic scientists in the field of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D (delta) virus (HDV) from around the world. HBV continues to be a major global and US public health problem. Despite the availability of prophylactic vaccines, many new infections occur worldwide, partly because of the lack of an immune response in some (=10%) of the vaccinated people, but mostly because of underutilization of the vaccine, due to cost and other issues. Moreover, for the more than 350 million people already chronically infected with HBV (approximately 15 million of whom are co-infected with HDV), the vaccine is of no therapeutic value. As a result, between 0.5 to 1 million people die of HBV/HDV every year worldwide. It is therefore imperative that basic research and the scientific exchange among those studying HBV/HDV continues and the annual HBV meeting represents the venue at which this can occur. The 2008 meeting will continue in this tradition by enhancing the interaction and dialog with ten oral scientific sessions, two poster sessions as well as less structured """"""""networking"""""""" time. A special focus of this meeting will be on viral entry, trafficking and host-virus interactions, with a special emphasis on cell biology, RNA metabolism, and antiviral immunity. This will be facilitated by two immunity related keynote addresses accompanied by a special workshop focused on viral entry and trafficking. As always, great effort has been made to minimize the cost of the meeting. Furthermore, the Hepatitis B Foundation has made a strong commitment to advocate and advance this meeting since 2005, in terms of providing consistent support responsible for meeting organization and promotion. Promotional targets have included universities with large numbers of underrepresented minorities. In order to allow the participation of junior and minority investigators, support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help defray the meeting costs of junior scientists is requested. Limited support for meeting materials and organizational functions is also needed. The 2008 International Meeting: The Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses is the next scheduled meeting in an annual series that has been held continuously since 1985. The HBV meeting is a critical and internationally renowned platform for continued exchange of information in basic research on HBV and HDV infections in that it is the only definitive meeting of its kind, bringing together basic scientists in the field of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV) from around the world. HBV continues to be a major global and US public health problem with more than 350 millions individuals chronically infected worldwide and with an annual rate of up to one million deaths due to HBV and HBV/HDV-induced liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. ? ? ?
