Patricia M. Strickler-Dinglasan
$6,500
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
New York
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
MICROBIOME Conference October 29 – November 2, 2024 The fourth installment of the international Microbiome conference at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will include the latest research exploring the etiology and treatment of a wide-range of microbe-associated diseases, integrating the disciplines of clinical research, microbiology, immunology, ecology, bioinformatics and genomics. From the prior meetings in 2019 (inaugural, in-person), 2020 (virtual due to COVID), 2022 (hybrid), it was clear that the CSHL Microbiome meeting offers a unique forum where a wide variety of disciplines come together to catalyze new ideas and integrate approaches focused on the myriad roles microbiomes play in human health. The explicitly broad definition of microbiomes discussed at this conference will allow for continued mutual fertilization of ideas, techniques and theories developed by researchers active in clinical, ecological and evolutionary lines of research. As well as bringing established leaders as speakers, this meeting will focus on young investigators and trainees to facilitate the scientific interactions necessary to grow this field and develop novel clinical and experimental approaches, diagnostics and therapies. The meeting will provide an in-depth focus on both experimental and computational approaches that are being used to elucidate the mechanisms of microbial community assembly, inflammatory, immunologic and infectious diseases. We will also explore novel roles for the microbiome in drug metabolism and response. Microbiome studies that are featured in the oral presentations will include bacterial, fungal and viral associated disease, and include microbe- microbe interactions. Oral and poster sessions will focus on major themes of microbiome and the host response, including Pathogens and Microbial Communities; Using all the Data: Bioinformatic Analyses; Microbial Molecules and Interactions; Microbes as Machines; Environment and The Microbiome; Microbial Function, Host Response; Human and Animal Model Studies; Microbial Ecology and Evolution. The meeting will include two plenary keynote speakers invited to give longer talks. The oral sessions will begin with two invited talks from established leaders in the field, followed by 6 shorter talks chosen from submitted abstracts. The inclusion of poster sessions as well as the allotment of ample time for questions following each talk will encourage extensive discussion between the participants. The meeting will be small enough (250 - 350 scientists attending in-person, with an additional virtual audience to broaden access) to facilitate these interactions, yet large enough to allow for oral presentations from younger investigators and those with novel perspectives. The integration of a wide variety of aspects of microbiome research will nucleate new interdisciplinary interactions that will drive this innovative translational field. This meeting will be distinct in the opportunities for young investigators to present their work and the coalescence of computational, experimental and clinical disciplines.