Susan F. Cooper
$17,800
KEYSTONE SYMPOSIA
Colorado
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Immunometabolism at the Crossroads of Obesity and Cancer, organized by Drs. Lydia Lynch and Hongbo Chi. The conference will be held in Banff, Alberta, Canada from January 16-20, 2022. The field of immunometabolism has generally been split into two largely separate areas: the study of the intrinsic cellular metabolic pathways driving immune response, and the study of leukocytes regulating systemic metabolism. However, the fields rarely have the chance to interact, yet it is critical to the field. This Keystone Symposia conference will bring these fields of systemic and cellular immunometabolism together for the first time. This conference highlights the interdependence of both arms of immunometabolism, using the settings of obesity and obesity driven cancer as the ideal examples to explore and synergize these areas of research. In addition, linking diet, obesity and immunity is very relevant to the current COVID-19 pandemic, which is disproportionately affecting patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, by holding this conference jointly with the Keystone meeting on Tumor Metabolism, the program will integrate immunometabolism with cutting edge knowledge and tools in metabolism of cancer cells and the microenvironment to drive the field forward. Furthermore, this conference will cover sessions on new concepts and state of the art technologies that can lead to deeper insights in the field of immunometabolism with the goal of connecting metabolic processes at the organismal, tissue, and cellular levels, as well as sessions on understanding the effects of diet, microbiome and obesity in immune system function and cancer pathogenesis and therapy. Finally, innovative strategies for targeting immunometabolism as therapeutics for cancer, obesity and other disorders, including the approaches of improving immunotherapy and direct targeting of tumor-intrinsic pathways in cancer will also be covered.