This purpose of this proposal is to seek support for the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology (SLB), to be held at The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October 5-7, 2017. The central theme of the 2017 meeting is ?Leukocyte Memory: Health and Disease?. 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 this important theme of the leukocyte and immunity. The annual meetings sponsored by SLB fill this void. The long term goal of the 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 multi- and inter-disciplinary basic and translational research. With this long-term goal in mind a special concurrent session with a biomedical engineering focus has been programmed to bring together biologists with engineers and expand our reach to a wider scientific audience. The overall objectives of the 50th Annual SLB meeting are three-fold. Firstly, to provide an outstanding scientific program consisting of notable plenary, keynote and symposium speakers who have prominent national and international recognition. 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 2017 meeting will continue the Society's tradition of excellence by bringing together scientific researchers of all levels in an environment created to facilitate excellence in science, networking, and career advancement. We will achieve these objectives through the following specific aims.
Aim 1 : To provide an innovative and scientifically progressive program in a collegial forum to address the latest developments relating to ?leukocyte memory in health and disease?. The program will feature 5 plenary and 7 concurrent sessions with 22 invited speakers. The 5 Plenary sessions will include I) Memory of Tissue Location and Micro-environment, II) Epigenetic Mechanisms of Memory in Innate Immune cells, III) Epigenetic Memory in Lymphocytes, IV) Leukocyte Memory in Chronic Disease, and V) Leukocyte Memory in Infection and Injury. With the support of the NIH we hope to support 2 of the 22 invited speakers.
Aim 2 : To provide an opportunity for new investigators and student trainees to interact closely with established scientists. To facilitate this, 2 poster sessions and numerous networking sessions are scheduled. With the support of the NIH, we hope to be able to fund 18 travel awards to the most meritorious trainee applicants.
Aim 3 : To foster the participation of women, minority, and disadvantaged scientists. Programming will include a Members in Training & Transition session, a Professional Development workshop on preparation for a job interview, a Women and Diversity Workshop, and other networking sessions.
The proposed application is relevant to public health because the annual meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology brings together scientists from diverse backgrounds and affords scientific opportunities and interactions pertinent to immunity in health and disease. 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. The proposal is relevant to NIBIB's mission due to special programming which will provide a unique opportunity for engineers to interact with biologists, offering the perfect juxtaposition between Biology and Biomedical Engineering in the arena of leukocyte function in health and disease.
