Joint with: Regulation of Barrier Immunity
Fungal Pathogens: Emerging Threats and Future Challenges

February 18-21, 2024 | Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada
Scientific Organizers: Michail Lionakis, Sarah L. Gaffen and Mari L. Shinohara

  In Person
  On Demand

February 18-21, 2024 | Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada
Scientific Organizers: Michail Lionakis, Sarah L. Gaffen and Mari L. Shinohara

Available Formats:   = In Person     = On Demand
Sunday, February 18, 2024

Arrival and Registration  
4:00–8:00 PM
 Van Horne Foyer
Welcome Mixer  
6:00–8:00 PM
 Van Horne Foyer
Monday, February 19, 2024

Breakfast  
7:00–8:00 AM
 President's Hall
Welcome and Keynote Address  
8:00–9:00 AM
 Van Horne A
Kirsten Nielsen, University of Minnesota
One Gene to Rule Them All
Host-Cryptococcus Interactions  
9:00–11:15 AM
 Van Horne A
Arturo Casadevall, Johns Hopkins University
What have we Learned About Cryptococcal Virulence in the Past Decade
Mari L. Shinohara, Duke University
Host Immune Responses Against Cryptococcus Infection
Amariliz Rivera-Medina, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Insights on Mechanisms of Vaccine-induced Protection against Cryptococcosis
Atsushi Miyashita, Teikyo University
Short Talk: Primed Immune Responses in the Silkworm (Bombyx mori) Enhance the Immune Barrier to Fungal and Bacterial Pathogens
Coffee Break  
9:30–9:50 AM
 Van Horne Foyer
On Own for Lunch  
11:15–5:00 PM
Poster Setup  
11:15–1:00 PM
 Van Horne C
Poster Viewing  
1:00–10:00 PM
 Van Horne C
Career Roundtable (Joint)  
1:00–2:00 PM
Amariliz Rivera-Medina, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Associate Professor
David Blehert, USGS
Chief of the National Wildlife Health Center's Laboratory Sciences Branch
John Robert Grainger, University of Manchester
Principal Investigator
Jamie M. Orengo, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Vice President Research, Allergy and Immunity
Jillian Astarita, TRex Bio
Principal Scientist
Workshop 1: New Research Developments from Junior Investigators  
2:30–4:30 PM
 Van Horne A
Yogesh Scindia, University of Florida
Hepcidin Deficiency: A Novel Host Susceptibility Factor in Disseminating Candidiasis
Marcos Isidoro-Ayza, UW-Madison
'The Skin I Live in' The Intracellular Lifestyle of Pseudogymnoascus destructans during White-Nose Syndrome of Bats
Jianfeng Lin, the lundquist institute
IL-17A Enhances C. albicans-induced Proinflammatory Cytokine Production in Oral Epithelial Cells by Relieving Translation Repression
Peter C. Cook, University of Exeter
Mgl2+ cDC2 Driven Anti-fungal Allergic Inflammatory Responses is Highly Dependent on a Glycolytic Switch, Orchestrated by Both Spore Uptake and the Lung Environment
Eric Dang, NIH
Regulation of Persistent Fungal Infection by Alternatively Activated Macrophages
Lena Heung, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
GM-CSF Regulates Pulmonary Immune Responses to Cryptococcus Gattii
Darin Wiesner, Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School
Sensitization with Fungal Protease Allergen Establishes Long-lived, Allergenic Helper T Cell Memory in the Lung
Derek Bays, UC Davis Health
Epithelial Hypoxia Maintains Colonization Resistance against Candida Albicans
Coffee Available  
4:30–5:00 PM
 Van Horne Foyer
What is New on the Candida-Mucosal Interface  
5:00–7:00 PM
 Van Horne A
Sarah L. Gaffen, University of Pittsburgh
What’s New with the Th17 Pathway in Candidiasis
Julian Naglik, King’s College London
An Update on Candidalysin
Marc Swidergall, University of California, Los Angeles
Candida Commensalism and Structural Immunity
Daniel Wychrij, University of Georgia
Short Talk: The Prevention and Treatment of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis in a Murine Model
Social Hour with Lite Bites  
7:00–8:00 PM
 President's Hall
Poster Session 1  
7:30–10:00 PM
 Van Horne C
Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Breakfast  
7:00–8:00 AM
 President's Hall
Fungal Recognition and Innate Immunity  
8:00–11:00 AM
 Van Horne A
Gordon D. Brown, University of Exeter
Remote Presentation: The Role of C-Type Lectin Receptor Signaling in Response to Various Fungi
Sho Yamasaki, Osaka University
Self-Recognition Through Fungal Receptors
Jatin M. Vyas, Massachusetts General Hospital
Rewiring Macrophages using Extracellular Vesicles to Prime Innate Immune Responses to C. Albicans
Partha S. Biswas, University of Pittsburgh
Metabolic Regulation of Antifungal Function of Neutrophils
Axel Dietschmann, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz HKI)
Short Talk: The Hyphal Morphology Triggers Inflammatory Cell Death in Human Macrophages
Brendan Snarr, NIH/NIAID
Short Talk: Card9-expressing Monocytes are Critical in Defending against Fungal Encephalitis
Dona Love, National Institutes of Health
NIH Funding Opportunities
Amanda A. Melillo, National Institutes of Health
NIH Funding Opportunities
Coffee Break  
9:00–9:20 AM
 Van Horne Foyer
On Own for Lunch  
11:00–5:00 PM
Poster Setup  
11:00–1:00 PM
 Van Horne C
Poster Viewing  
1:00–10:00 PM
 Van Horne C
Coffee Available  
4:30–5:00 PM
 Van Horne Foyer
Inhalation-Acquired Fungal Pathogens  
5:00–7:00 PM
 Van Horne A
Elizabeth R. Ballou, University of Exeter
Endofungal Bacteria are Widespread and Dynamic in Clinical Isolates of Mucorales
Ashraf S. Ibrahim, The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Host-Mucorales Interactions
Bridget Marie Barker, Northern Arizona University
The Ecology and Genomics of Coccidioides
Mariano Aufiero, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Short Talk: Dectin-1/CARD9 Induction of the TFEB and TFE3 Gene Network is Dispensable for Phagocyte Anti-Aspergillus Activity in the Lung
Alexander Rapp, Dartmouth College
Short Talk: Uncovering Alterations in the Murine Interferon Response due to dsRNA Mycovirus during Aspergillus fumigatus Infection
Social Hour with Lite Bites  
7:00–8:00 PM
 President's Hall
Poster Session 2  
7:30–10:00 PM
 Van Horne C
Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Breakfast  
7:00–8:00 AM
 President's Hall
Translational Mycology  
8:00–11:00 AM
 Van Horne A
David Blehert, USGS
Ecology and Pathobiology of Bat White-Nose Syndrome
Leah E. Cowen, University of Toronto
A Novel Platform for Developing Therapeutics for Drug-Resistant Fungal Pathogens
Iliyan D. Iliev, Weill-Cornell Medical College
Interfacing the Mycobiota, Neuroimmunity and Inflammation
Michail Lionakis, NIAID, National Institutes of Health
Fungal Immunity from the Bench to Bedside: Lessons from Inborn Errors of Immunity
Feng Zhu, NCI, National Institutes of Health
Short Talk: Oral C. Albicans Infection Promotes Upper GI Tract Tumor Progression via Neutrophil Dysfunction and EGFR Activation
Claire Pearson, University of Oxford
Short Talk: SYK Gain of Function Variants Alter the Host Immune Response to Intestinal Fungi
Coffee Break  
9:00–9:20 AM
 Van Horne Foyer
On Own for Lunch  
11:00–5:00 PM
Workshop 2: Women and Minorities in Science  
2:30–4:30 PM
 Van Horne A
Riley Risteen, University of Maryland, Baltimore
A Cunning Foe: Exploring the Interface between Cunninghamella bertholletiae and Lung Epithelium
Shannon Righi, Tulane University School of Medicine
Bone Marrow Expansion Induced by Candida Dubliniensis Drives Protective Trained Immunity against Fungal/Bacterial Sepsis and is Dependent on Card9 Signaling
Lynn Bimler, Baylor College of Medicine
Developing a Chronic Model of Candida Albicans Cerebral Mycosis through Gut Colonization
Estefany Yamilet Reyes, Duke University
Elucidating The Role of Central Nervous System (CNS)-Resident Cells During Cryptococcal Meningoencephalitis
Judith Behnsen, University of Illinois Chicago
Salmonella, Candida Albicans, and Arginine: Intricate Cross-Talk in the Gut Enhances Bacterial Virulence
Ganlin Qu, University of Florida
The Heme-scavenger, Hemopexin, Protects against Aspergillosis by Mitigating Lung Injury: An Experimental and Computational Study
Vanda Lerer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Viro-Fungal Tag-Team: Mycovirus-Mediated Modulation of Fungal Stress Responses, Fitness, and Virulence
Coffee Available  
4:30–5:00 PM
 Van Horne Foyer
Crosstalk Between the Fungus and the Host  
5:00–6:45 PM
 Van Horne A
Ilse Jacobsen, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology
Synergistic Interactions Between Candida and Bacteria: Mechanisms and Consequences
Jessica Hargarten, NIH/NIAID/DIR
Probing the breadth of the Parabola: Pathway analysis identifies a requirement for MTOR and JAK/STAT signaling in cryptococcal disease
Teresa O'Meara, University of Michigan Medical School
Genetic Approaches to Understanding Candida auris Pathogenesis
Kevin Newhall, Case Western Reserve University
Short Talk: Specific Macrophage States and Select Debaryomyces hansenii Strains Promote Immune Evasion
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers)  
6:45–7:00 PM
 Van Horne A
Social Hour with Lite Bites  
7:00–8:00 PM
 President's Hall
Entertainment  
8:00–11:00 PM
Cash Bar  
8:00–11:00 PM
 President's Hall
Thursday, February 22, 2024

Departure  
7:00–11:59 PM

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