This application seeks partial funding for a FASEB Summer Conference on """"""""Signal Transduction in the Immune System"""""""", to be held June 19-24, 2013 Nassau, Bahamas, with future meetings to be held in 2015 and 2017. The major goal of this conference is to provide a comprehensive focus on recent advances regarding the signaling mechanisms involved in the response of immune cells in both health and disease. The meeting in 2013 will be the 7th occurrence of this FASEB conference. This conference has garnered widespread interest in research institutes, academia, and industry because of the outstanding speaker rosters, the cutting edge nature of the work presented and the relevance of many presentations to immunologic diseases. Additionally, since most mainstream immunology meetings do not provide an in-depth focus on signal transduction mechanisms, this dedicated FASEB conference has attracted leaders in immune signal transduction world-wide, as well as new investigators and students. As a result, this FASEB conference has been one of the most highly attended FASEB Summer conferences. The meeting planned for 2013 includes a joint emphasis on adaptive and innate immune signaling mechanisms. The 2013 conference includes a strong focus on cytoskeletal changes that regulate leukocyte activation and migration, the importance of metabolic pathways during lymphocyte differentiation, and the use of microscopy and mathematical modeling to uncover detailed biochemical mechanisms of leukocyte receptor signaling as well as the application of recent breakthroughs to the treatment of human disease. These topics represent the cutting edge of research at the intersection of immune signaling, biology and translational to human disease. The conference has a backbone of regular attendees and speakers, but we will ensure that new ideas and areas are addressed in 2013 by featuring 25 new speakers. In addition, each session has space for several short talks to be selected from abstracts, with priority given to new investigators or post-docs from groups in which PIs are not presenting. This will ensure a diversity of topics at the meeting. The overall objectives of the meeting are: 1. To provide a critical and intensive overview of the recent advances in immune signaling;2. To bring together senior scientists and young investigators in a convivial atmosphere with informal discussions to promote the skills of students and young investigators;3. To advance research on the molecular mechanisms in the immune system by broadly disseminating information and recent breakthroughs. We anticipate that this conference will build upon the success of past conferences in influencing the direction of immune signaling research.
The major goal of this conference is to provide a comprehensive focus on recent advances regarding the signaling mechanisms involved in the response of immune cells in both health and disease. A large number of human diseases affect molecules in signal transduction pathways and thus, these pathways present potential therapeutic targets for the increasing number of diseases involving the immune system and inflammation. This conference will contribute to the rapid advancement of research on the immune system by broadly disseminating information and recent breakthroughs in the field. In addition, this conference will provide a forum for lively discussions of new ideas and their applicability to the development of novel therapeutics to treat inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, as well as cancer and immunodeficiency.
