Third Biennial International Eosinophil Symposium 2003

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Partial financial support is requested for the 3rd Biennial International Eosinophil Symposium scheduled for June 25-29, 2003 at the Snowmass Conference Center, Snowmass Village Resort at Aspen, CO. The Symposium is being held under the auspices of the International Eosinophil Society. The meeting will host 35 invited featured speakers, and 24 additional oral talks (10 min + 5 rain discussion) and approximately 50 posters which will be selected from submitted abstracts of junior scientists (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty). More than 200 participants are anticipated who will have the opportunity to submit abstracts for selection for oral or poster presentations. A cutting edge program of basic, translational, and clinical research is being prepared by members of the Organizing and Program Committees and its International Scientific Advisory Board. The conference provides an outstanding opportunity for presentations and breakout sessions on the most recent advances in this biomedically important, diverse and rapidly advancing field. The meeting consists of invited talks by leaders in eosinophil research and allied fields from the perspectives of asthma, allergy, gastrointestinal, hematologic, neoplastic, fibrotic, and tropical/parasitic diseases. The focus will be on basic aspects of eosinophil cellular, molecular and immunobiology, and clinical issues relevant to the functions of eosinophils in both normal physiology, inflammation and disease pathogenesis. Opportunities are included for breakout sessions on applications of eosinophil biology to drug discovery and therapeutics for eosinophil-associated diseases. The meeting format provides a highly interactive, workshop-like forum for both the plenary talks, and the oral and poster presentations of submitted abstracts, especially by younger scientists (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows). The symposium covers the following major themes: (1) Eosinophil development, maturation, recruitment and migration, priming and activation, and death, (2) Normal versus pathophysiologic roles of eosinophils in asthma, allergy, tropical diseases, tissue remodeling and fibrosis, EMS, HES, eosinophil leukemia and cancer biology, (3) Current issues in the clinical evaluation/treatment of eosinophil-associated diseases and syndromes, (4) Unanswered questions and future directions in eosinophil research. The symposium will accomplish the following goals: (1) Provide a venue for bringing together basic and clinical scientists addressing eosinophil biology at different organizational levels and in animal models to foster understanding of their roles in normal versus pathophysiologic conditions, (2) Bring together basic and clinical investigators to foster the development of clinical therapeutics, diagnostic tests and other treatments of eosinophil-associated diseases based on understanding eosinophil immunobiology and inflammatory functions, (3) Provide participants with the latest information on eosinophil basic and clinical research by including many short talks from submitted abstracts, (4) Provide all participants with opportunities for in-depth discussions and exchange of ideas with speakers and poster presenters for cross-fertilization and establishment of collaborations between basic and clinical disciplines, and (5) Provide an interactive forum for effective scientific exchange amongst senior and promising junior scientists and minorities working in the fields of allergy, immunology, tropical diseases, hematology, and cancer research in terms of the functions of eosinophils in normal physiology in health and pathophysiology in disease.