The PAP 2005 Research Conference will be the focus on pathogenic mechanisms of impaired surfactant catabolism, myeloid cell innate immune dysfunction and novel therapies for idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), a fatal lung disease affecting men, women and children. This conference will be third in a series evolving from collaboration between PAP investigators who first met at a mini-symposium at the American Thoracic Society meeting in 2002. The previous conference (PAP 2004) was held in conjunction with the first Rare Lung Diseases Consortium Annual Investigators Meeting in Cincinnati. Simultaneous patient educational sessions were held for individuals affected by PAP, LAM, Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and pediatric ILD. One (1) important outcome of PAP 2004 was initiation of the PAP Foundation, a patient run, nonprofit organization dedicated to patient advocacy, education and research support for PAP. Successive PAP conferences have captured a progressively larger fraction of the world's PAP investigators. PAP 2005 will have representatives from the US, Japan, Europe, England, and Australia and is expected to include attendance of the majority of the global PAP research community. It will include basic science sessions devoted to the pathogenesis surfactant accumulation and pulmonary and systemic innate immune dysfunction in PAP. Clinical sessions will focus to developing consensus on standardizing diagnosis and therapeutic whole lung lavage for idiopathic (autoimmune) PAP. An important outcome of the meeting will be to finalize plans to implement a global PAP patient registry expected to facilitate clinical, basic and translational research in PAP. The specific objectives of this conference are to review the recent scientific progress pertaining to: 1) the pathogenesis surfactant accumulation in PAP; 2) molecular mechanisms by which GMCSF regulates innate immune functions of macrophages and neutrophils in mouse and man; 3) GM-CSF clinical treatment trials for PAP currently ongoing in the US and Japan; and 4) developing consensus on diagnosis of PAP and use of biomarkers clinical research trials. The PAP Foundation will hold it first ever education day with support from the RLDC. This conference will provide a forum where thought leaders focused on the molecular and cellular basis or clinical management of PAP will present cutting edge research, integrate concepts, and chart innovative research directions.
