Fungal Pathogens: Emerging Threats and Future Challenges
Fungal Pathogens: Emerging Threats and Future Challenges is organized by Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and will be held from Feb 18 - 21, 2024 at The Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Description:
Human pathogenic fungi have emerged as significant causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with acquired immunodeficiency conditions such as HIV/AIDS and receipt of myeloablative chemotherapy and targeted immunosuppressive therapies for autoimmune disorders, neoplastic diseases, and hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplantation. In recent years, emerging multidrug resistant Candida auris is responsible for life-threatening outbreaks in healthcare facilities and raises serious concerns to global public health. A recent explosion in the discovery and characterization of novel monogenic inborn errors of immunity that predispose to mucocutaneous and/or invasive tissue-specific fungal disease and the development of clinically relevant animal models of mucocutaneous and invasive fungal infections have collectively enhanced our understanding of cell type-, tissue-, and fungus-specific recognition, effector pathways, and adaptive immune responses. Our improved molecular understanding of fungal virulence traits shows promise for the development of targeted treatment strategies against fungal pathogens.
The goal of this Keystone meeting will be to bring together for the first time scientists who study both fungal virulence and fungal immunology, thus helping to synthesize our current understanding of the cellular and molecular determinants of fungal pathogenesis and mammalian antifungal immunity,. By encouraging cross-disciplinary exchange, conference will advance key priorities of informing precision risk stratification, prophylactic, therapeutic and vaccination strategies to combat life-threatening fungal infections in vulnerable patient populations. This meeting will be held jointly with the Barrier Immunity conference, to foster interdisciplinary insights and collaborations towards understanding fungal strategies to breach protective barriers, and mechanisms that protect against fungal infection.
Additional details will be posted as soon as information is available.
