HFP 2007

Scientific Programme

Information

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© 2002 by Michael Schuster

Second FEBS Advanced Lecture Course
Human Fungal Pathogens :
Molecular Mechanisms of Host-Pathogen Interactions
and Virulence

May 11-17, 2007
La Colle sur Loup
France

Organized by Christophe d'Enfert, Anita Sil and Steffen Rupp
Course Secretary Christine Dugast

 

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 6 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

Introductory symposium (May 11) : Fungal infections in the real life

Symposium 1 (May 12): Evolution of pathogenic fungi - genomics, sex and population
Joe Heitman (Duke University, USA), Symposium chair

Symposium 2 (May 13): Environmental sensing and morphogenesis
Alistair Brown (University of Aberdeen, UK), Symposium chair

  • Christophe d'Enfert (Institut Pasteur, Paris, France)
  • Gustavo Goldman (University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil)
  • Bruce Klein (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA)
  • Anita Sil (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
  • Malcolm Whiteway (BRI-NRC, Montréal, Canada)

Symposium 3 (May 14): Targets and antifungal strategies
Dominique Sanglard (CHUV, Switzerland), Symposium chair

  • Judith Berman (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA)
  • Antonio Cassone (Istituto Superior di sanita, Roma, Italy)
  • Carol Munro (University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom)
  • Steffen Rupp (Fraunhofer IGB, Stuttgart, Germany)
  • Ted White (University of Washington, Seattle, USA)

Symposium 4 (May 15): Host-fungus interactions: the pathogen attacks...
Bernhard Hube (Robert Koch Institute, Germany), Symposium chair

Symposium 5 (May 16): Host-fungus interactions: ... and the host responds
Neil Gow (University of Aberdeen, UK), Symposium chair

  • Gordon Brown (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
  • Alexander Johnson (UC San Francisco, USA)
  • Stuart Levitz (University of Masschussets Medical School, Boston, USA)
  • Annika Scheynius (Karolinska Hospital, Stokholm, Sweden)
  • Anna Vecchiarelli (University of Perugia, Italy)

 

Oral Presentations

"Workshop Talks" of 20 minutes will be delivered during afternoon or evening sessions by graduate students or postdocs, only. 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.

Hot Topic Discussion

An evening session will address the general issue of "Systems Biology and fungal pathogens". This session will be chaired by Dr. Karl Kuchler (Vienna Medizinische Universität, Austria) and Dr. Ken Haynes (Imperial College, London, UK).

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 6 abstracts will be awarded a surprise prize, the "HFP2007 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 HFP2007 First Announcement as well as the course poster as PDF-document.

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