Neuroimmunology in Organismic Function: Shared Mechanisms and Reciprocal Interactions

While neuroimmunology has roots in neurology, neuroscience and immunology, the neuroimmune system has emerged as structurally and cellularly distinct from the peripheral immune system and in its ability to orchestrate a variety of developmental and homeostatic processes, as well as responses to injury, neurodegeneration, toxins and infections. Contrary to early studies that tended to categorize neuroimmune responses, including the entry of all peripheral immune cells, as pathologic, the modern view recognizes these processes may exert neuroprotective roles and contribute to normal central and peripheral nervous system functions.

The goal of this meeting is to bring together speakers and attendees with an interest in neuroimmune mechanisms and interactions. Our speakers include top researchers that reflect the breadth of the field of neuroimmunology but also those with primary expertise in neuroscience or immunology. This diversity in expertise will allow exposure of neuroimmunology trainees to cutting edge tools utilized in neuroscience and immunology communities, which will include cellular and organismic level analyses ranging from molecular approaches to in vivo imaging and behavioral analyses. Major topics in the field that will be covered include, but are not limited to, the neuroimmunology of development, behavior, sex-dependent biological differences, glial cells, the gut-brain axis, barriers of the brain, and pathological conditions including neurodegeneration, cancer, autoimmune diseases, tissue inflammation, and infectious diseases, including COVID-19. We aim to have dynamic discussions during the talks and over the poster sessions, which will be judged by invited speakers. A substantial portion of the meeting is preserved for short talks selected from the poster submissions, with priority given to senior trainees and junior faculty. Please join us in Ventura, CA for what should be another exciting meeting on this important contemporary topic.