Autumn Immunology Conference

University Of Kentucky, Lexington KY

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal requests 2 years of support for the Autumn Immunology Conference (AIC), an annual gathering of immunologists at the Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile hotel in Chicago, IL. Year 1 will support the 52nd annual AIC on November 22-25, 2024 and Year 2 will support the 53rd annual meeting to be held November 21- 24, 2025. The purpose of AIC is to foster communication and collaboration among immunologists, particularly those located in the middle of the US. Chicago is an exciting destination, and within driving distance for many midwestern academic institutions that are home to numerous NIAID-funded investigators. Since its inception in 1972, AIC continues to be very highly regarded and has a fiercely loyal group of regular attendees from across the US. The Specific Aims of AIC are to: 1) disseminate new immunological research findings from leading scientists in the field, 2) provide a forum for trainees to improve their presentation skills, and 3) increase interactions between a diverse group of scientists interested in immunology research. The meeting starts with a “Meet the Speakers” event for trainees, a Keynote speaker, and a welcome reception on Friday. Saturday & Sunday have similar schedules: morning symposia, then smaller themed breakout sessions, followed by posters. The meeting ends on Monday with just a morning plenary session. Each year, three different topic areas are chosen for the morning symposia. For 2024, 6 female & 6 male invited speakers will present talks on Innate Immunity, Immune Regulation at Barriers, & Mucosal Vaccines; the 2025 topics will be chosen by the AIC Chair in consultation with the Executive Council (EC) at the spring planning meeting. All accepted abstracts (typically ~270) are invited to give a 10 min. talk during the afternoon workshops, followed by a 1 h poster presentation. AIC is run by a dedicated all-volunteer group of faculty that serve multi-year terms including the “Leadership track” that consists of a 4 year commitment to serve as the Workshop Coordinator, the Secretary, the Chair, and then the Past Chair/Councilor. Since 1992, the EC has strived to maintain a gender balance amongst its members; we typically rotate males and females to enter the leadership track. Another unique feature of AIC is the Undergraduate Workshop with a Careers in Immunology panel discussion and a table fair of PhD programs in Immunology. AIC is truly a formative experience for trainees and this remains one of the most positively evaluated aspects of the meeting. New for this renewal is a partnership with Black in Immuno that will involve a breakfast panel discussion focused on trainees who are underrepresented minorities (URM) in science. This will further enhance the trainee experience and AIC and we anticipate that this will increase the number of URM attendees at the meeting. This year we will also expand our Wallace Diversity Fellows program, which has been providing travel awards and networking opportunities to URM since 1972. The volunteer EC works hard to solicit external funding to support this meeting so we can keep the registration fee low, allowing as many trainees as possible to attend. In fact, the registration fee is waived for any undergrad who submits an abstract.