NEUROSCIENCE OF HIV CONFERENCE

University Of Kentucky, Lexington KY

Investigators

Abstract

This application seeks support for the conference, "The Ninth International Neuroscience of HIV Infection" Basic and Clinical Frontiers 2000" to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 21st 024th, 2000. Specifically, as this is an international conference to be held outside the continental United State support is requested for mailing, printing, and the travel and lodging costs of the plenary speakers and conference organizers from the United States. The goal of this conference, formerly a satellite symposium to the International Conference on AIDS, is to bring together the world's experts in the pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical manifestations of the neurological, neuropsychological, and psychiatric complications of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The conference serves as an efficient means to disseminate new information on the pathogenesis and manifestations of the broad range HIV-related disorders of the nervous system. It has also proven to be extremely effective in stimulating fruitful coordinated research efforts in a collaborative, multi-institutional fashion. This international conference on the neuroscience of HIV was conceived and developed in 1988 when the co-founders (Drs. J. Berger and R. Levy) recognized the limited forum available to neuroscientists at the International Conference on AIDS for the presentation and discussion of works related to the effects o HIV on the nervous system. The first annual meeting held in Quebec City, prior to the Vth International Conference on AIDS in Montreal, Was an unqualified success with over 220 participants from around the world. Subsequent sites of the conference have included Monterey, California (1990), Padua (1991), Amsterdam (1992), Vienna (1993), Vancouver (1994), Paris (1996), and Chicago (1998). Attendance at the conference has varied from 150 to 275 persons with worldwide representation. The conference has served as an effective mechanism to encourage young investigators in the discipline. The format for the conference is a combination of plenary sessions by internationally recognized authorities in association with scientific (both platform and poster) presentations. With the maturation of the conference, by-laws and an advisory board of international experts broadly representative of the neuroscience of HIV have been established for the conference.