Grant Abstract: The Nutritional Immunology Across the Lifespan Conference

Grant Number: 1R13AI179134-01
PI Name: Crott
Project Title: The Nutritional Immunology Across the Lifespan Conference

Abstract: “The Nutrition al Immunology Across the Lifespan Conference” was selected by FASEB for their Science Research Conference (SRC) series and will be held on July 30 – August 3, 2023, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Melbourne, FL. This is the second iteration of this conference series, which highlights mechanistic research, including clinical studies, examining the role of specific nutrients on immune function and host resistance. For this meeting we will focus on the effect of nutrition on innate and adaptive immunity but now include a special emphasis on how life stage is an important determinant of nutritional requirements and outcomes. Talks will range from basic mechanisms to clinical studies and will cover themes related to nutrition and infection, gut microbial health, inflammaging, neonatal immunity, and the brain-immunity connection. To date there has been a lack of attention to the importance of life stage, from prenatal to advanced age, in this field and we seek to address that gap with this conference. We will bring together leading scientists in the field to drive a discussion on this topic that is highly timely across a wide range of disciplines. In addition to hosting talks by established leaders in the field we will have several talks by early career investigators. Further efforts to support career development will include Meet-the-expert sessions and Career Development panel discussions. Importantly, we have a robust plan to secure the involvement of investigators from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. Fundraising efforts have been fruitful so far, and we now seek to supplement those funds so that we can best support the involvement of junior and mid-career researchers. Finally, information from the meeting will be disseminated in a special issue of a leading journal that will feature review articles from the speakers. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Nutrition has a critical role in innate and adaptive immunity. This application seeks funds to support speakers, students and early career investigators to attend a highly interdisciplinary conference that merges nutrition with immunity across the lifespan.

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