Conference: From Omics to Function, Future Directions for Comparative Immunology, NACI Workshop, June 12-15, 2017, Raleigh, North Carolina

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

This award will provide support for the North American Comparative Immunology Workshop (NACI 2017), which will be held June 12-15, 2017 in Raleigh, NC. As a field, comparative immunology is undergoing a transformation propelled by the emergence of new and innovative genomic technologies and the recognition of a wider biological role for immunity. The study of organisms from the very simple (sponges) to the most complex (higher plants and animals) provides unique insight into immunobiology, medicine and evolution. NACI 2017 is designed to bring together established and early career investigators who study immune function in a diverse range of animal species to discuss current research, assess the future directions of the comparative immunology community and develop a plan for meeting these needs. This workshop is expected to result in increased understanding of comparative immunology, which in turn will lead to novel disease prevention and treatment strategies. The majority of the requested funds will be used to provide trainee stipend awards to twenty trainees, which will allow these trainees to participate in the NACI 2017 workshop. Efforts will be made to recruit participants from under-represented groups. The results discussed at the workshop will be disseminated by a publication summarizing the meeting, and on a freely accessible internet site. The North American Comparative Immunology Workshop (NACI 2017) will bring together comparative immunologists from across the continent. Collectively, these research groups study species from sponges to mammals from a variety of angles; including pathology, development, evolution, and ecology. Although the studied species may be diverse, current research strategies rely on similar omics-based strategies to identify immune-related sequences in each species. Genomic studies demonstrate that even closely related species can possess numerous divergent immune genes and that genes once thought to be indispensable for immune function in one lineage have been lost in others. It is also becoming clear that orthologous immune genes, once thought to play the same role in all species, may in fact, play different roles in different species. These findings are germane not only to our understanding of the natural history of immunity and vaccine development in aqua- and agri-culturally important species but also to the development of human immunotherapeutic monoclonals (the fastest growing sector of the pharmaceutical industry). Thus, there is an imminent need to develop assays to study immune gene function in a wide range of species. Despite the recent development of efficient and broadly applicable genome engineering techniques, technological hurdles remain for non-model species, such as the lack of reference genomes, lack of inbred or clonal lines, long generation times and failure to reproduce in captivity. NACI 2017 will provide a venue for the whole field to discuss these hurdles extensively, as a community, and develop a vision for moving Comparative Immunology forward.