This proposal requests funds to support an international symposium on Ion Channels and Transporters in Immunity, Inflammation and Anti-tumor Immunity, the 74th Annual Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP), which will be held from September 9th ? 13th, 2020 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. The SGP annual symposium has an established reputation as one of the leading meetings for physiologists, cell biologists, and biophysicists spanning across all career stages and professional arenas. Each year the meeting topic is unique, chosen to highlight emerging topics of interest. The 2020 meeting is poised to be especially unique and innovative: It will be the first international conference dedicated to the topic of ion channels and transporters (ICTs) in the immune system. Effective immune responses rely on the ability of immune cells to rapidly respond to pathogens and tissue damage. Several ICTs have emerged to be important control switches that shape immunological and inflammatory responses during infection, cancer and autoimmunity. Mutations in some of these channels have been linked to immunodeficiency in rare populations of human patients. Nevertheless, we know virtually nothing about the function of the vast majority of the hundreds of ion channels that are expressed in immune cells. This is in contrast to excitable cells like neurons and cardiomyocytes, in which ion channels have been well studied and used as molecular targets for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Major gaps in our current knowledge include a mechanistic understanding of how ion fluxes regulate immune responses at the cellular and organismal level. This is a clearly missed opportunity for our basic understanding of immunology as well as its clinical applications. As a result, there are currently no FDA?approved drugs targeting ion channels for immunological disorders. Clinical areas that would benefit from a better understanding of the role of ICTs in immune cells include asthma/allergy, autoimmune diseases, antitumor immunity and immunity to infection. The 2020 SGP symposium will provide a novel opportunity for immunologists and ion channel physiologists to discuss the latest advances in the regulation, function and physiological roles of ICTs in innate and adaptive immunity. The purpose of this conference therefore is nothing less than to invigorate the entire field of ICT research in immunology and to ignite broader interest among academic labs and pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs targeting ion channels for the treatment of immunological diseases.
The specific aims of the symposium are to (1) Discuss cutting-edge science in the ion channel and immunology fields and promote opportunities for new interdisciplinary collaborations; (2) Facilitate the translation of basic knowledge into pre-clinical explorations and clinical initiatives; (3) Provide presentation, networking and career-development opportunities for trainees including students, postdocs and junior faculty; and (4) Increase the number of women, under-represented minorities (URMs) and disabled individuals.
Ion channels have a well-established and important role in many cell types and organs, including the brain, heart and kidney, but our understanding of their function in the immune system and their role in immune responses to infections and tumors or in autoimmunity and allergy is in its nascent stages. This proposal requests funds to support the first international symposium on the topic of 'Ion Channels and Transporters in Immunity, Inflammation and Anti-tumor Immunity', the 74th Annual Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP), which will be held from September 9th ? 13th, 2020 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. The overarching goal of the symposium is to bring together, for the first time, immunologists, ion channel physiologists and pharmacologists to discuss cutting-edge science in the ion channel and immunology fields, to promote opportunities for new interdisciplinary collaborations, to facilitate the translation of basic science into clinical studies as well as to provide presentation and career-development opportunities for students, postdocs, women and scientists from underepresented minorities.
