Tolerance, Autoimmunity and Immune Regulation

Organizer(s): David W. Scott, Rachel R. Caspi, Matthias G. von Herrath and Terry L. Delovitch

Supported by The Director's Fund

Summary of Meeting:

Self versus non-self discrimination is one of the basic tenets of immunology. The pathways by which tolerance is established are complex but recent work has provided greater insight into this important process. Understanding how tolerance is induced and “broken” is critical to developing future therapies for a variety of autoimmune disorders, such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Novel approaches need to be developed for the treatment of the autoimmune disorders that lead to tissue target cell destruction. This Keystone meeting is centered at understanding tolerance and its breakdown, and bridging the gap between basic, pre-clinical and clinical studies. While there will be an emphasis on basic studies, disease models for dissecting pathogenesis and examining novel therapies in a variety of autoimmune diseases (e.g., diabetes, multiple sclerosis, IBD, uveitis, as well as hemophilia), which will provide a major focus. Thus, a major theme will be the underlying tolerance pathways, as well as how they are subverted. The establishment of new models and therapies, including human clinical trials, will be included. Sessions to be covered include studies of the genes and signals involved in tolerance and autoimmunity, the interaction of the innate and adaptive immune systems, novel approaches for tolerance induction in autoimmune models, and translation of these to human clinical trials. Proof of principle studies and new biotechnology approaches will also be emphasized. The goals of the meeting are the following: • To provide an understanding of the mechanisms of immune tolerance and its breakdown • To update the audience on autoimmune models and clinical trials. • To stimulate interactions between basic and clinical scientists, as well as R & D scientists in industry, from around the globe to collaborate to respond to the challenges in this area. A novel feature this year is the addition of a formal debate session in the evening of the second day, as well as the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Awards, with a brief historical overview. Workshops will be designed to be interactive rather than shorter plenary-type talks.

Scholarship Deadline: November 21 2005

Discounted Abstract Deadline: November 21 2005

Abstract Deadline: December 14 2005

Discounted Registration Deadline: January 20 2006

We gratefully acknowledge additional support for this conference from:

We gratefully acknowledge the generous grant for this conference provided by:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Grant No. 1R13 AI068401-01

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Special thanks to the following for their support of Keystone Symposia initiatives to increase participation at this meeting by scientists from underrepresented backgrounds:

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