ESF Research Conferences

ESF-JSPS Frontier Science Conference for Young Researchers

Cutting Edge Immunology and its Clinical Application

1-6 March 2011

Preliminary Programme

© Portrait du Père Tanguy, Vincent VAN GOGH, P. 7302, huile sur toile - 92 x 73 cm, provenance: Musée Rodin, Paris

The immune system is evolved to protect our body against a variety of infectious agents which can cause serious and often fatal diseases. We now appreciate that the immune system is also involved in surveillance of malignant transformation of normal cells that constitute our body, as well as rejection of transplanted organs. Dysregulation of immune responses results in unwanted outcomes such as allergy, autoimmunity and other inflammatory disorders. Modern immunology using newly developed technology, including establishment of monoclonal antibodies, long-term cell culture systems, recombinant DNA/RNA techniques, creation of genetically engineered (transgenic and knock-out) mice and rats, has greatly advanced our understanding of basic mechanisms underlying immune responses in a variety of physiological and pathological settings. Of note, some of such critical findings in laboratory animals are now clinically applied: monoclonal antibodies specific to proinflammatory cytokines and cell surface signaling molecules or their receptors are successfully used to treat human disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
This conference is intended to provide academic environment in which young researchers readily meet distinguished front-runners in the field of basic and clinical immunology to discuss the frontline of immunological research and its clinical application. We believe this helps to construct a new collaborative network of young and senior researchers with different backgrounds and interests, and promote closer interaction between the bench and the clinic.

Provisional list of invited speakers:

  • Prof. Jean-François Bach - INSERM Unité 25, Hôpital Necker, FR
  • Prof. Ana Cumano - Pasteur Institute, FR
  • Prof. Sidonia Fagarasan - Laboratory for Mucosal Immunity, RIKEN, RCAI, JP  
  • Prof. Klas Kärre - Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institute, SE, TBC  
  • Prof. Yoshinori Fukui - Division of Immunogenetics, Department of Immunobiology and Neuroscience, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, JP
  • Prof. Toshio Hirano - Laboratory of Developmental Immunology, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, JP
  • Prof. Tadamitsu Kishimoto - Collaborative Institutes Laboratory of Immune Regulation, Osaka University, JP
  • Prof. Hiroshi Kiyono - Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, JP
  • Prof. Bart Lambrecht - University Ghent, BE
  • Prof. Antonio Lanzavecchia - Institute for Research in Biomedicine, CH
  • Prof. Toshiaki Ohteki - Department of Biodefense Research, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School, JP
  • Prof. Ed Palmer - University Hospital Basel, Basel, CH
  • Dr. Philippe Pierre, Centre Immunologie de Marseille Luminy, FR
  • Prof. Fiona Powrie - Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, UK, TBC
  • Prof. Andreas Radbruch - Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum, DE      
  • Prof. Shimon Sakaguchi - Department of Experimental Pathology, Institute for Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Experimental Imunology, WPI Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, JP
  • Prof. Yousuke Takahama - Division of Experimental Immunology, Institute for Genome Research, University of Tokushima, JP
  • Prof. Kiyoshi Takeda - Laboratory of Immune Regulation, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, JP
  • Prof. Peter Taylor, Imperial College, UK
  • Prof. Rudolf Valenta - Medical University of Vienna, AT
  • Prof. Herman Waldmann - Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, UK
  • Prof. Maria Yazdanbakhsh - Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, NL