2018 International Meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses: We are requesting funding to support the travel expenses for young scientists to attend and participate in the 2018 International Meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Viruses, scheduled from October 3 to October 6, 2018, at the Palazzo dei Congressi of Taormina in Taormina, Italy. This meeting is the only forum that gathers the international community of researchers who study the molecular biology and pathogenesis of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the closely associated hepatitis delta virus (HDV). Approximately 25% of the world's population has been infected by HBV. Despite the availability of prophylactic vaccines, many new infections continue to occur worldwide, mostly because of underutilization of the vaccine due to cost and other issues. Moreover, for the approximately 240 million people already chronically infected with HBV (approximately 15 million of whom are co-infected with HDV), the vaccine is of no therapeutic value. As a result, between 0.5 and 1 million people die of HBV/HDV every year worldwide. Although current anti-HBV therapies can decrease replication of the virus, and slow progression to the development of associated diseases, such a liver cancer, no available treatment is typically curative. It is therefore imperative that basic research on HBV continues and that the latest progress in the field is discussed and disseminated in a timely manner. The annual international HBV meeting provides the forum for scientific exchange and dissemination of the latest research information, including discussions regarding therapeutic strategies for potentially curing HBV and HDV infections. The 2018 international HBV meeting will provide an essential venue for discussing new discoveries in HBV and HDV biology and potential therapeutic treatment strategies. The meeting will consist of 7 oral scientific sessions, 2 poster sessions, a mini-symposium focused on hepatocellular carcinoma biology and therapeutics, a workshop focused on anti-HBV therapies, and less-structured, ?networking? time. The scientific interactions will also be facilitated by 2 keynote addresses. As in the past, great effort has been made to minimize the cost of the meeting. Furthermore, since 2005, the Hepatitis B Foundation has made a commitment to support this meeting, provides a permanent home for organizing the meeting, and makes its staff available for supervising and publicizing the meeting, especially to universities with large numbers of underrepresented minorities. In order to allow the participation of junior and minority investigators, support from the National Institutes of Health to help defray the meeting costs is requested. It is expected that 500-600 attendees will register for the 2018 HBV meeting, which will mark the 34th anniversary of this meeting.
2018 International HBV Meeting Project Narrative Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are a major global and United States public-health issue with more than 240 million individuals chronically infected worldwide and an annual rate of up to one million deaths due to HBV and HBV/hepatitis D virus (HDV)-induced liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. This proposal requests support for the 2018 International Meeting on the Molecular Biology of Hepatitis B Virus, which provides a crucial forum for the further understanding of HBV and HDV infection and pathogenesis and an essential venue to discuss novel antiviral strategies for curing HBV and HDV infections and preventing the development of associated liver diseases.
