The 8th International Meeting on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of the Clostridia will be held from October 22-25, 2013 in Palm Cove, Queensland, Australia. Previous meetings in this series have occurred at 2-3 year intervals. The 7th meeting was held in October 2011 in Ames, Iowa. These meetings have become the principal conferences in the field, uniting those who study Clostridium genetics and physiology with those who unravel the details of toxin structure and mechanisms of action and those who focus on the host response to infection or treatment strategies. The planning for the 8th meeting is well-advanced;the sessions planned include Diseases and Epidemiology, Genetics and Genomics, Pore-Forming Toxins, Intracellular Toxins, Regulation of Virulence Genes, Animal Diseases, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Physiology and Biotechnology, Laboratory Diagnosis, and Vaccines and the Immune Response. For most sessions, an exciting speaker has been invited to set the tone of the session. The speakers include highly respected senior scientists, exciting young academic researchers, and top-level scientists who have recently joined the Clostridium field after establishing a highly productive career in another area of microbiology or infectious disease research. In addition, 3-4 talks per session will be presented by young faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and PhD students who have made particularly important discoveries early in their careers. These speakers will be invited based in the abstracts they submit. Between 150 and 200 attendees are expected;they will come from all parts of the world. The meeting site will provide family care and has full handicapped accessibility. Participation by scientists from traditionally underrepresented groups will be actively solicited.
Clostridium species are among the world's most devastating pathogens for humans and animals. Major advances have been made recently in genetic manipulation of Clostridium spp., including species that have been considered intractable for decades, in revealing the biochemical and molecular basis for virulence factors and their regulation, and in diagnosis, epidemiology, vaccine development, and novel therapeutics. The detailed discussions of these advances that will take place at the meeting are expected to reveal important new understanding of human disease and to stimulate new interdisciplinary collaborations.
