© 2002 by Michael Schuster
© 2004 by Christophe d'Enfert
Fourth
FEBS Advanced Lecture Course
Human Fungal Pathogens:
Molecular Mechanisms of Host-Pathogen Interactions
and Virulence
May 7-13, 2011
La Colle sur Loup
France
Organized by Steffen Rupp, Christophe
d'Enfert and Anita Sil
Course Secretary Sonja Endmeir
Scientific Programme
Outline of the Course
Fungal infections pose a prominent problem for public health. Research on human fungal pathogens has become a very active field over the last two decades. The progressive availability of the genome sequences of the main fungal pathogens of humans and related species has now resulted in a major shift in the strategies that can be applied to study these species. Insertional mutagenesis, transcript profiling, proteomics, etc. are yielding important discoveries on the molecular and cell biology of the fungal pathogens and their interaction with host cells as well as in the understanding of the mechanisms that underlie antifungal resistance.
The course has been designed to provide the students with both an overview of the current knowledge and an update on the most recent advancements in several fields that encompass most of the molecular research conducted on fungal pathogens. The following topics will be covered in main symposia: comparative and evolutionary genomics, signalling and morphogenesis, mating, host-fungus interactions, cell wall dynamics and antifungal resistance and development. These symposia will be mirrored by workshops and poster sessions providing the participants with the opportunity to present their results.
The organization of this Advanced Lecture Course is made possible through support from the Federation of European Biochemical Societies and the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.
Scientific Programme
There will be 5 Symposia, each chaired by a leading scientist acting as a discussion leader. The chair shall also give an introduction to the topic of the particular symposium.
List of Invited Lecturers and Chairs
Key-note Lecture (May 7)
- Gordon Brown, University of Aberdeen, UK:
PRRs, immune cells and fungal-host interactions
Symposium 1 (May 8): Pathogenic fungi
– genomics, evolution and epidemiology
John Taylor (University of California at Berkeley, USA), Symposium chair
- Jim Kronstad, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada:
Adaptation of Cryptococcus neoformans to the mammalian host environment - Bridget Barker, Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology, Montana State University, USA:
Population genomic sequencing of coccidioides fungi - Ted White, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle, USA:
A comparison of seven dermatophyte genomes: insights into biology and pathogenesis - Richard Bennett, Brown University, Providence, USA:
The parasexual cycle of Candida albicans - Cécile Fairhead, IGM/UMR CNRS, Orsay Cedex, France:
Candida glabrata and related yeasts
Symposium 2 (May 9): Sensing and interacting with the host and microbial environment
Joy Sturtevant, Symposium chair
- Deborah Hogan, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, USA:
C. albicans Ras1 signaling in biofilms and microbial communities - Neil Gow, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK:
Recognition of Candida cell wall polysaccharides by myeloid cells of the innate immune system - Xiaorong Lin, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA:
Conservation of diphormism and virulence in a non-canonical dimorphic fungus: Cryptococcus - Sven Krappmann, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany:
From CPC via PrtT through to OPT – nutritional aspects of invasive aspergillosis - Gerhard Braus, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany:
Light control of fungal development and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans
Symposium 3 (May 10): Antifungal strategies
and mechanisms of resistance
Jean-Paul Latgé (Institut Pasteur, Paris, France), Symposium chair
- John Perfect, Duke University, Durham, USA:
Cryptococcus: how it resists - Dominique Sanglard, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland:
Candida spp drug resistance mechanisms - Leah Cowen / Stephanie Diezmann, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada:
Targeting Hsp90 to conquer antifungal drug resistance - David Andes, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA:
Role of C. albicans glucan matrix in biofilm associated antifungal resistance - Robert Cramer, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA:
Implications of hypoxia on the pathogenesis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis
Symposium 4 (May 11): Host defense mechanisms and fungal attack
Mihai Netea (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Symposium chair
- Karl Kuchler, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria:
Fungal pathogens meet host immune cells – molecular mechanisms of alternating offense & defense - Martin Schaller, University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany:
Mucosal protection against C. albicans infection - Stuart Levitz, UMass, Worcester, USA:
Exploiting innate fungal cell wall recognition for vaccine development - Matthias Gunzer, Otto-von-Guericke Universität, Magdeburg, Germany:
Host fungal interaction in aspergillosis: focus on neutrophil granulocytes - Annika Scheynius, Karolinska Institut, Stockholm, Sweden:
Malassezia – host-fungal interactions
Symposium 5 (May 12): Systems biology
in pathogenesis
Ken Haynes (Imperial College London, UK), Symposium chair
- Al Brown, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK:
C. albicans pathogenomics and systems biology - Edda Klipp, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany:
Computational systems biology – mathematical modeling of fungal stress responses - Michael Costanzo, University of Toronto,
Toronto, Canada:
The genetic landscape of the cell - Sandy Johnson, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA:
Eukaryotic transcriptional circuits - Nevan Krogan / Pedro Beltrao, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA:
Quantitative genetic and physical interaction maps
Closing Lecture (May 12)
- Barbara Howlett, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia:
Fungal pathogenesis of plants and animals
Oral Presentations
"Workshop Talks" of 12 or 20 minutes will be delivered during afternoon or evening sessions by principal investigators, graduate students or postdocs. The Scientific Advisory Board will select all oral presentations based on submitted abstracts. Thus applicants are encouraged to submit abstracts since this will be taken into consideration in the case of over-subscription.
Poster Session
The poster session represents a vital part of the course. All abstracts, whether or not selected for oral presentations, will be on display as posters during the entire course to give plentiful time for informal discussions among participants.
Young Investigator Awards
All abstracts submitted by graduate students or postdoctoral fellows as first authors are subject to scientific evaluation by selected SAB members. The best 4 oral presentations and 4 posters will be awarded a surprise prize, the "HFP2011 Young Investigator Award", at the end of the course.
Timetables
Please note: A short Timetable, including all types of scientific presentations, provides a brief overview of this Advanced Lecture Course.
Please note: You can download and freely distribute the HFP2011 First Announcement as well as the course poster as PDF.
[ Introduction | Scientific Programme | Course Information | Meeting grants| Registration ]