Support is requested for a scientific meeting entitled """"""""The Role of Biological Response Modifiers in Molecular and Clinical Transfusion Medicine"""""""", to be held Thursday- Friday, September 9-10, 1993 in Arlington, VA. The purpose of the conference is to stimulate investigator-initiated research in Transfusion Medicine (TM) and to address fundamental questions concerning the role played by Biological Response Modifiers (BRM) in reactions to blood transfusions and other aspects of TM. The lack of application of basic science techniques to TM research as well as the inability of TM research to attract basic scientists to the field is a major deficiency of TM research. The general quality and overall sophi- stication of TM research needs improvement. It is vital that basic scientists become aware of research opportunities in TM and collaborate with workers in the TM field. Advances in TM research also need to be shared with these basic scientists. A mechanism is needed for stimulating cross-fertilization of ideas between researchers in TM studying BRM and those scientists performing basic research on BRM in allied fields.
The aims of the conference are: 1) To invite scientists working in the field of BRM to present their research. Speakers will be leaders in the field of BRM research -- both basic and applied - the latter including those researchers working in the field of TM; 2) To provide a forum for the two groups of workers to learn about each others research. Basic researchers need to become more aware of advances in TM research, the impact BRM can have on clinical TM practice, and to become more familiar with the TM literature. Transfusion Medicine researchers need to become more knowledgeable about and familiar with the sophisticated biomedical techniques used in basic science BRM research; 3) Promote cross-fertilization of ideas, stimulate collaborative research and increase the number of and sophistication of the investigator-initiated grants in TM involving BRM. The Conference would be supported by NHLBI funds with supplemental funds provided by private industry, Yale University School of Medicine and the American Association of Blood Banks. A conference summary and list of collaborative research opportunities will be published.
