Cedric Stuart Raine, PhD, DSc, FRCP - US grants

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): [unreadable] [unreadable] This is an application for funds to provide partial support of the 7th International Congress of the Intemational Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI), which will take place in Venice, Italy, from September 28 to October 2, 2004. The congress will be preceded by an Instructional Course on Basic Principles on Neuroimmunology (September 27-28). The application's proponent, C. S. Raine, is past President and honorary Officer of the ISNI, and member of the International Advisory Committee of the Congress. The funds requested will be used by the congress organizers in Italy to encourage the attendance of junior and minority investigators in the field of Neuroimmunology. This congress is the major event in the international neuroimmunology calendar and is held every 3 years. Anticipated attendance is 900-1,000. Due to the increasing recognition of the key role of the immune system in many neurological diseases, Neuroimmunology has become an important and continuously expanding biomedical field, encompassing a wide variety of disciplines ranging from genetics, basic immunology and neurobiology, through neurochemistry, pharmacology, endocrinology, neuropathology and neuroimmunomodulation, to clinical immunology and neurology. The scientific program will focus on basic mechanisms of immune surveillance and repair of the nervous system, nervous system regulation of immune responses, and immunologic mechanisms of neurologic diseases. A heavy emphasis on new therapeutic approaches (gene, cell and immune-based therapies) in neurologic diseases (multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, psychiatric disease, prion disease, viral infections, etc.) will permeate the program. Stem cell research in neural repair and mechanisms of neurodegeneration will also feature prominently. This request is mainly for travel funds and will be used to encourage young and minority investigators to attend from around the world, in particular from less developed countries. Funds are also requested for honoraria for chairpersons and for the invitation of minority participants and investigators from different ethnic groups to serve as moderators of some sessions. Selections of candidates will be carried out by a local organizing committee in Italy. [unreadable] [unreadable]

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): [unreadable] [unreadable] This is a renewal application for funds to support a broad-based Training Program on molecular-based research in disease-oriented neurobiology run by a 23 member, highly interactive Training Faculty with independent research funding and a long history of collaboration. Our major goal is to provide the scientific community with disease-trained neuroscientists familiar with state-of-the-art molecular approaches. These skills will range from the characterization and quantitative analysis of cellular products, to their molecular sequencing and genetic analysis. Emphasis will be placed on Alzheimer disease, AIDS encephalitis, multiple sclerosis, movement disorders and mechanisms underlying nervous system development. The Training Faculty comprises investigators mainly with neuropathology, neurology and neuroscience affiliations with interests encompassing basic and applied research into molecular mechanisms of disease, molecular neurobiology, immunology and cell biology. Also included will be cutting-edge approaches to questions of fundamental importance to neurologic disease, viz. glial cell lineage, transcriptional control of myelination, acquisition of neuronal phenotype and axon guidance. This program emanates from an institution renowned for the integration of cellular and molecular technologies to the study of neurologic disease and this tradition will be continued by a vibrant, multidisciplinary Training Faculty led by an investigator who has directed the program since its inception. The vibrant scientific atmosphere generated by this team is highly conducive for training in research. Predoctoral trainees (2 slots requested) with strong interests in molecular aspects of nervous system disease and development, will be recruited for admission into the Graduate Division of this institution. After coursework (1 year), trainees will join mentors' laboratories and will receive a PhD in either Pathology or Neuroscience in 4-5 years. Postdoctoral trainees (6 slots requested), will enter as MDs or PhDs and will be based in the mentor's laboratory, usually for a 2-3 year period. Trainees will be exposed to extensive seminar series on molecular neuropathology, molecular biology and cellular neuroscience and will emerge from the Program capable of generating independent research support and of translating the acquired technologies to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of neurologic disease. This NRSA remains a major source of young investigators (clinical and basic), of diverse ethnicities, most of whom tend to remain in academia and assume leadership positions in disease-oriented molecular neuroscience. [unreadable] [unreadable]

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for funds to provide partial support of the 8th International Congress of the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI), which will take place in Nagoya, Japan, from October 16 to October 19, 2006. The congress will be preceded by a pre-congress program named "Distinguished Review Talks" by representative leaders in neuroimmunology, and a Special Symposium on "Alzheimer's disease, neurodegeneration and immunity" (October 15). The application's proponent, C.S. Raine, is past President and Honorary Officer of the ISNI, and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Congress. The funds requested will be used by the congress organizers in Japan to encourage the attendance of junior and minority investigators in the field of Neuroimmunology. This congress is the major event in the international neuroimmunology calendar and is held every 2 or 3 years. Anticipated attendance is 900 -1,000. Our 2004 ISNI Congress in Venice hosted 1200+ attendees and Edinburgh in 2001, 900+. Due to the increasing recognition of the key role of the immune system in many neurological diseases, Neuroimmunology has become an important and continuously expanding biomedical field, encompassing a wide variety of disciplines ranging from genetics, basic immunology and neurobiology, through neurochemistry, pharmacology, endocrinology, neuropathology and neuroimmunomodulation, to clinical immunology and neurology. The scientific program will focus on basic mechanisms of immune surveillance and repair of the nervous system, nervous system regulation of immune responses, and immunologic mechanisms of neurologic diseases. A heavy emphasis on new therapeutic approaches (gene, cell and immune-based therapies) in neurologic diseases (multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, psychiatric disease, HIV encephalitis, viral infections, etc.), will permeate the program. Stem cell research in neural repair and mechanisms of neurodegeneration will also feature prominently. This request is for travel funds and will be used to encourage young and minority investigators (pre- and postdoctoral) to attend from around the world, in particular from less developed countries. The selection of candidates will be carried out by a local organizing committee in Japan. Neuroimmunology is of great relevance to most degenerative neurologic conditions because the nervous system is in constant communication with the immune system and in response to almost any type of stress, viz. trauma, aging, infection and inflammation, it produces immunologic molecules that interact with the immune system leading to developmental and regenerative events or to inflammation and degeneration. Neuroimmunology has tremendous relevance to public health in that immune responses can be either blocked or modulated thus making them available for therapy. The enormous strides made, for example, in multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease in recent years has evolved from the application of compounds that act upon the immune system, therapeutic approaches that grew out of neuroimmunologic investigations. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]