This R13 meetings grant application seeks partial support the 2006 Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meetings, which will be held in conjunction will the Midwest Autumn Immunology Conference in Chicago, IL. Funding is requested for travel costs and housing for students, postdoctoral fellows, and minority scientists, as well as some of the cost of invited speakers, for a one day meeting will focus on the "Alcohol and Innate & Adaptive Immunity." The meeting will be held on the Friday November 17th, 2006 in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University in Maywood IL, the day before the start of the three day Chicago-based Midwest Autumn Immunology Conference. In addition to having a strong scientific program, with impressive lists of invited plenary speakers from around the United States, the Autumn Immunology Conference is relatively small (approximately 450 registrants), which will allow greater visibility of AIRIG than would be possible at larger meetings. Additionally, the Conference has multiple opportunities for young developing scientist at the student and postdoctoral fellows to participate on many levels. Every poster presenter has the opportunity to give a short oral presentation through poster workshops. Moreover, the Conference has Careers in Immunology Workshops, further indicating devotion to the involvement of trainees at all levels. These sessions allow time for career building and collaborative opportunities, which may not be feasible or readily available at larger meetings. Thus, in addition to providing a forum for the discussion of current research in the field, overall goals of the coorganizers are to expand the participation of students, postdoctoral trainees and minority scientists and increase the critical mass of scientists working on alcohol and immunology issues. We believe that these goals will be best achieved in 2006 by hosting AIRIG in conjunction with the Autumn Immunology Conference in the Chicago-land area.

R13AA016751

2006-09-30

2007-08-31