This purpose of this proposal is to seek support for the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology (SLB) with joint participation with Neutrophil 2016 to be held at the University of Verona Congress Center, Verona, Italy, from September 15-17, 2016. The subject of the 2016 meeting is ?Inflammation, Immunity and Cancer: Neutrophils and Other Leukocytes.? SLB is the leading scientific society with a focus on facilitating research on leukocytes and their roles in the pathophysiology of acute and chronic diseases. As far as we are aware there are no other meetings or societies that specifically hone in on the leukocyte and immunity as its central theme. The annual meetings sponsored by SLB fill this gap. The long term goal of SLB and its annual meetings is to attract multi-disciplinary attendees from academia, industry, and health care organizations so as to maximize the exchange of ideas and foster research collaborations, with the overarching goal of accelerating progress in inter-disciplinary basic and translational research. With this long- term goal in mind, SLB has joined forces with the ?Neutrophil group? to expand our reach to a wider scientific audience, including our international colleagues. The overall objectives of the 49th Annual SLB meeting are three-fold. Firstly, to deliver an outstanding scientific program consisting of plenary, keynote and symposium speakers with notable national and international reputations. Secondly, to provide opportunities for promising new investigators to present their work during platform and poster sessions. Thirdly, to foster an inclusive environment for support of women, minorities, students, and trainees. The 2016 meeting will continue this tradition of excellence by bringing together scientific researchers of all levels in a setting created to facilitate excellence in science, networking, and career advancement. We will achieve these objectives through the following aims.
Specific Aim 1 : To provide an innovative and scientifically progressive program in a collegial forum to address the latest developments relating to the neutrophil and other leukocytes in inflammation, immunity and cancer. The program incorporates 5 plenary, 10 concurrent mini-symposia, 2 poster, and numerous networking sessions. The 5 plenary sessions will include a) the keynote address, b) Metabolism and Signaling in Immunity, c) Leukocyte Subsets, d) Leukocytes in Host-Pathogen Interaction, and e) Leukocytes in the Tumor Microenvironment. With support from NIH we hope to support 6 of the 24 invited speakers.
Specific Aim 2 : To provide an opportunity for new investigators and trainees to interact closely with established scientists, at the various networking, poster and oral sessions. With support from the NIH, we hope to fund 25 travel awards to the most meritorious applicants. The rationale for providing travel awards is that trainees will be encouraged to attend this meeting to exchange ideas with their peers and leaders in the field of leukocyte biology.
Specific Aim 3 : To foster the participation of women, minority, and disadvantaged scientists by incorporating special thematic sessions focused on women, diversity, career development and networking.
The proposed application is relevant to public health because the annual meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology with joint participation of Neutrophil 2016 will bring together scientists from diverse backgrounds resulting in multi-disciplinary scientific interactions and translational opportunities pertinent to inflammation, immunity and cancer with a focus on the role of neutrophils and other leukocytes. The proposal is relevant to that part of NIAID's mission that pertains to dedicating funds to support scientific opportunities that address domestic and global health problems and diseases.
