All organisms require an immune system to protect them from viruses and other disease-causing microbes. However, comparisons of immune defenses of different animals, from worms to humans, have shown a surprising diversity. Mammals and roundworms, for instance, use a completely different set of immune "tools" to accomplish the same goal: the recognition and elimination of pathogens. The central question to be addressed in this workshop is: "How do immune systems operate in different organisms, and what insights can the diversity of immune mechanisms offer to our understanding of the evolution of immunity in animals?" This workshop will bring together researchers who study a diverse array of organisms (worms, flies, fish, sea urchins, tunicates, frogs and humans)for an small meeting that will foster an exchange of ideas between investigators in different fields and stimulate new collaborations between investigators. The new insights arising from this meeting could ultimately provide fresh applied perspectives, such as novel diagnostic and clinical applications. In addition, a greater understanding of diverse immune systems could provide fresh ideas on how maintain the health of animals that are being reared for food, or under stress due to the impacts of environmental change. Overcrowding due to farming, or other environmental stress is often reflected in a weaker immune response, with an increased susceptibility to disease. In addition, the meeting will provide a venue that gives younger investigators, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, the opportunity to present their research to the community, in an interactive environment conducive to guiding and nurturing their careers.
The research presented at the meeting will be publicly available on a website (accessible via www.mcdb.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/detomaso) and published in an immunology journal.
This funding supported a meeting at the University of California, Santa Barbara in early June, 2013. The funding was mainly used to support the travel and meeting costs of younger scientists, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The goal of this meeting was to provide a smaller evnironment whereby students and postdoctoral fellows could interact with faculty in a relaxed environment and in turn provide a venue to present new, unpublished data as well as develop new collaborations. We also opened the meeting to undergraduates at UCSB. The meeting was educational and interactive. The schedule was designed such that all younger scientists were provided an oral presentation to showcase their work, and there were also poster session which allowed more one on one interactions. In addition, four of the plenary speakers were chosen from under-represented groups, and this funding allowed us to cover their expenses entirely. The meetings specific aims were to (1) establish and maintain an active scientific, educational and professional network among laboratories working in the diverse areas of comparative immunology; (2) provide better and updated information of the scientific activities of the different laboratories; (3) connect students with potential laboratories that have postdoctoral position available; (4) develop collaborations among various laboratories; and (5) improve and diversify student education and training in comparative immunology. Feeback from the meeting was unanimously positive in terms of providing the type of venue for people to interact and form new collaborations.
