An International Symposium entitled: """"""""Mucosal Immunity and Oral Host- Parasite Relationships"""""""" has been planned for October 16 - 19, 1997 in Birmingham, Alabama. This Symposium will commemorate two significant milestones; it will mark the 30th Anniversary and founding of the Dental School at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In addition, this planned Symposium and the subsequent publication of the Proceedings will mark the silver anniversary of the first Congress of Mucosal Immunology which was held in Birmingham, Alabama and which was supported in part by the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR). The 1997 Symposium will have a major emphasis on host-parasite interactions in oral health and disease, and will illustrate how oral tissue-parasite models have been beneficial for understanding mucosal immunity to infection. Further, these model systems have exploited mucosal immunity for vaccine development as well as host-parasite relationships which influence the health status of the host. The Symposium will be held over an approximate 2 1/2 day period with a keynote address planned for the evening of October 16th, 1997, by Dr. Jiri Mestecky illustrating the historical development of the mucosal immune system and contributions made by oral immunology. A total of 5 half day sessions will then take place and will include: 1) The Clonality Of Hosts And Parasites In Infectious Diseases - Relevance To The Oral Cavity; 2) The Oral Cavity As A Model For Mucosal Vaccine Development: A. Parallels Between Oral, Respiratory And GI Tract Infection And Immunity; 3) The Oral Cavity As A Model System In Mucosal Vaccine Development: B. Gastrointestinal And Genital Infections And Immunity 4) The Links Between Infection Soft-Tissue Inflammation, And Bone Disease: Periodontal Diseases, Rheumatoid Arthritis, And Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; and 5) Emerging Clinical Utility In The Face Of Changing Paradigms. We also plan a Poster Session for the lunch period (12:30 - 2:00 p.m.) of the first and second full days (October 17 and 18, 1997) and a full Poster Discussion group during the first evening (October 17, 1997). The Symposium Organizing Committee is composed of Drs Page W. Caufield, Marjorie K. Jeffcoat, Hiroshi Kiyono, Jerry R. McGhee, Suzanne M. Michalek and Michael W. Russell and this Committee plans to invite Dr. Roy Curtiss, III and Dr. Susumu Tonegawa to present Plenary lectures, and Dr. Harold Slavkin to present the closing lecture. Thus, this planned symposium will focus on model systems of the oral cavity, but will draw upon the vast knowledge which has been brought forth in the mucosal immune system, and which can trace its origins to NIDR - supported research and sponsored meetings. The exchange of scientific ideas during this Symposium and the collaborative opportunities will foster-the establishment of even greater ties between scientists who use oral disease and immunity models with those who work in other areas of mucosal immunology as well as systemic disease.
