This renewal application seeks support for the 25th Scientific Conference of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP) scheduled for April 10-13, 2019, at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront Hotel in Portland, OR. SNIP's conference aims at the fundamental understanding of how abused substances cause addiction and render humans more susceptible to infection with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), chronic diseases, such as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), and progression to AIDS. The conference is the only regular meeting in the US and worldwide devoted to neuroimmunepharmacology and the neuroimmune axis as they relate to drug abuse and brain infections, with a focus on neuroHIV/AIDS. The 25th conference will maintain this focus but new programmatic emphasis will include gender-related effects, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and glymphatics, the biological role of adenosine, exosomes and neuropathological mechanisms and emerging problems related to long-term chronic infection, its treatments and aging. Aspects of basic and clinical neuroscience, neuropharmacology, neuroimmunology, neuroHIV/AIDS, and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as the behavioral and addiction sciences will be incorporated.
Three Specific Aims are proposed as guidelines for the conference: 1. Bring together investigators from diverse basic science and clinical fields to discuss and advance our understanding of the multi-factorial impact of substance abuse and HIV-1 infection on the human host; 2. Engage young investigators in the field of neuroimmune pharmacology; and 3. Disseminate information presented at the conference to the scientific community-at-large as well as to health care providers and the general public. Engaging young investigators is an important part of the society's mission. The conference will include Early Career/Young Investigator poster sessions, symposia and traveling awards. The conferences promote ethnic and gender diversity among the speakers and participants, and accommodations for attendees with special needs will be provided. Information on upcoming conferences, participant registration, and travel arrangements will be provided on the society's website. Meeting abstracts will be published in the Journal of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, the official journal of SNIP, and highlights of the meeting will be shared through the society's website and brochures.
The proposed 25th Scientific Conference of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP) will serve as a forum at improving a fundamental understanding of how substance abuse renders humans more susceptible to infection and chronic diseases, in particular infection with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and progression to AIDS. The conference also will serve to educate experts in immunology, endocrinology, epidemiology, neurology, and virology who traditionally have not worked in the area of substances of abuse; extend the education and promote the professional growth of young investigators; and educate health care workers and the public-at large on the role of abused substances in increasing susceptibility to HIV infection, formation of viral reservoirs, and promoting neurodegeneration and disease progression.
