2023 Neuroimmune Communication in Health and Disease Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract This proposal is requesting partial support for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty to participate in the Gordon Research Seminar and Conference (GRS and GRC) entitled “Neuroimmune Communication in Health and Disease: Neuroimmunology in Organismic Function: Shared Mechanisms and Reciprocal Interactions”, which will be held in Ventura, CA on January 21-27, 2023. The overall goal of this international conference is to increase our understanding of mechanisms that regulate neuroimmune interactions during homeostasis and neurological disorders. The field of neuroimmunology has evolved considerably over the past two decades and emerged as one of the fastest moving disciplines in biomedical research. Neuroimmunology GRC is specifically designed to capture the breadth of the field through cutting-edge sessions focused on how the neuroimmune system regulates the healthy CNS and peripheral nervous system (PNS) and underlies pathologic processes during disease. As such, the 2021 program will begin with a keynote session on the co-evolution of the nervous and immune systems, a paradigm-shifting field that is providing evidence that these systems began as a single system that each evolved separately in response to exposures to microbes. The conference will congregate top tier scientists operating at the nexus between these two disciplines, including faculty and trainee newcomers to this field. Novel concepts pertaining to the complexities of the neuroimmune interface will be explored and discussed in featured talks and daily poster sessions. An intended strength of this meeting will be diverse representation of scientists from all over the world and neuroimmunology leaders as session chairs who will engage young scientists in the field, especially the trainees, to lead the discussions. The major session themes of Neuroimmune communication in health and disease GRC will capture some of the most exciting areas of contemporary cutting-edge research in the field, such as the role of microglia and glia during homeostasis and in neurological diseases, immune effects on brain function, immunity and neurodegenerative diseases, blood-brain barrier and other barriers' function and dysfunction, microbiome-CNS communication, infections as triggers of chronic neurodegenerative disease, and neuroimmunology of the peripheral nervous system. The information gained from this meeting will inform and advance the field of neuroimmunology through data-driven discussions that highlight the breadth and depth of the field, and important questions to be addressed. Neuroimmune mechanisms are involved in all aspects of nervous system health and function, with perturbations leading to disruption in neural cell function and pathologic processes that cause severe disease. This GRC will explore important questions regarding the role of neuroimmune interactions as fundamental to nervous system functions.