This request is for the support of a total of 20 trainees (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) and junior faculty members to attend the 17th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Immunology (ASRI) entitled, """"""""Advances in Reproductive Immunology."""""""" The meeting will be held June 4-7, 1997 at the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The meeting is under joint sponsorship of the ASRI and the University of British Columbia. The objective of this international meeting is to bring together clinicians and basic scientists to discuss contemporary topics in reproductive immunology, to share their research results and to exchange ideas. By financially supporting these trainees and junior faculty members, they will have the opportunity to attend state- of-the-art lectures and discuss ideas with international experts in reproductive immunology and related fields. advances in reproductive immunology research have major practical applications to prevalent health problems such as infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, as well as the development of immunocontraceptives, and vaccines to prevent transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. The 1997 meeting consists of six plenary sessions and a poster session. The plenary sessions address the topics of 1) Endometrial remodelling, 2) The maternal/fetal interface, 3) Embryo development and maternal immune recognition, 4) Autoimmunity and reproduction, 5) Use of intravenous immunoglobulin in reproduction, and, 6) Mucosal immunology of the reproductive tract. In each plenary session there are lectures by both established and promising new investigators that address both the basic science and clinical aspects of the topic. Complimenting the lectures are oral presentations chosen from the submitted abstracts, which will be graded on their scientific content. The program and abstracts will be published immediately prior to the meeting, and, accepted manuscripts subsequently, in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Reproductive Immunology.
