The closing date for applications and abstract submissions is 8 February 2009.
Conference on ‘The impact of the environment on innate immunity: the threat of diseases’ (4-9 May 2009, Obergurgl, Austria), organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck (LFUI).
The threat of diseases: considering the options - is the second in a series of two conferences on the impact of the environment on innate immunity. The first conference was held in April 2007, and set the stage for discussing basic knowledge about one of the most important defence functions of organisms against parasitic diseases: the innate immune system.
In May 2009 the follow-up conference will build upon the knowledge gained in the 2007 conference and will have a more applied angle. Its highlights will include vectors of disease – both an introduction to the model organisms, and what the prospects are for immunological interference in these organisms; innate defence molecules for use as antibiotics, environmental stressors and global change, emerging disease and innate immunity, and how our knowledge can be used to develop strategies against the spread of new diseases.
The conference will have a very broad interdisciplinary approach, with a selection of speakers of very diverse background and expertise. It is open to scientists from both academia and industry, with grants available to support the attendance and travel of participating young researchers.
CHAIR Professor Joachim Kurtz E-Mail
University of Münster Faculty of Biology Animal Evolutionary Ecology Group Münster Germany
CO-CHAIRS Dr. Sophie Armitage E-Mail
University of Münster Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity MünsterGermany
Professor Paul Schmid-Hempel E-Mail
ETH Zürich Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ)Department of Environmental Sciences Experimental Ecology Zurich Switzerland
Location
Universitätszentrum Obergurgl, Ötz Valley, near Innsbruck, Austria
The Obergurgl University Centre is located at an altitude of 1940 metres, in the highest glacial village in the Tyrol, at the end of the Ötz Valley and surrounded by numerous three-thousand metre peaks. Practical Information Guide PDF (305 KB)
Full details, including PDFs of the conference programme and flyer, as well as application forms, are available online at www.esf.org/conferences/09223.
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Preliminary Programme
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Preliminary Programme PDF (326 KB) Last Updated 29-September-2008
Conference Flyer PDF (268 KB) Las Updated 29-September-2008
Closing date for applications (as well as for abstract submission): 8 February 2009
ESF Contact
Ms.AnneBlondeel-Oman E-Mail
Conference Officer
Phone: +32 (0)2 533 2024
Fax: +32 (0)2 538 8486
Please quote 09-223 in any correspondence.
Partnership
This conference is organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich (FWF)
and the Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck (LFUI).
Links of interest
2nd European Congress of Immunology (ECI) Immunity for Life: Immunology for Health,
September 13-16 2009, Berlin, Germany
The congress will be held under the auspices of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS)
