Programme

Programme Running Order Keynote Speakers Workshops Poster Themes

This year we are excited to have two excellent keynote speakers:

• Bart Lambrecht


Bart's research group is interested in the role of antigen presenting dendritic cells in the initiation of the pulmonary immune response that ultimately leads to sensitization to antigens and how this applies to allergic disease, respiratory viruses and cancer immunotherapy.

He has received several awards, among which the Odysseus Grant of the Flemish government, The Inbev-Baillet Latour Prize for Clinical Research, The Sabin Prize for Vaccine research, The Pharmacia Allergy Research Foundation Award 2004, The NWO Vidi scholarship, The Schering Plough Respiratory 2000 Award, and the 1998 European Respiratory Society Annual Allergy and Immunology award. Among academic activities, he is a Young Academy member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), advisory editor of The Journal of Experimental Medicine and associate editor of Mucosal Immunology.



• Polly Matzinger


Polly's lab is currently working on the basis of a new theoretical view of the immune system. The new model starts with the idea that the driving force for an immune response is not the recognition of foreign antigen but the recognition of danger, which is the theory Polly is well known for.

She is also a member of several editorial boards such as Seminars in Immunology, International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, Current Opinion in Immunology, a reviewer for Nature, Science, and the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the Medical Research Council (Great Britain), the Medical Research Council (Canada) and the Life Science Foundation, as well as several advisory boards.

Workshops will run after lunch. There are three exciting and various workshops to choose from, which can be signed up for when registering on the day:

• Patient interview and Q & A session

Many scientists working in medical research do not get a chance of contact with those they are ultimately helping. This session will be taken by an experienced clinician and involve an interview and question and answer session with an asthmatic patient. Attendees will be able to learn more about those living with asthma and how new developments in treatment will help them.



• Science and the media with Sense about Science


Public perception and knowledge of science is becoming increasingly important in a world with so much instant media. Sense about Science is an independent charitable trust that works with scientists and civic groups to promote evidence and scientific reasoning in public discussion. including the Voice of Young Science network, which helps young researchers, scientists, medics and engineers in the early stages of their career to get actively involved in public debates about science, particularly on contentious subjects.

This session will discuss these issues affecting scientists and what you can do to help yours and others science be properly presented to the public.

www.senseaboutscience.org.uk



• The publishing process: From start to finish

This session aims to help you understand the publishing process and help you to make the best impact with your work. It will be taken by two editors: Dr Chris Surridge (editor in chief of Nature Protocols) and Prof Bart Lambrecht (advisory editor of The Journal of Experimental Medicine and associate editor of Mucosal Immunology).

Together they will take you through the whole process of publishing at their respective journals, and then take a Q & A session. The process of peer review as currently employed by journals has both advantages and flaws, and can provide a lively debate!

Posters will be based around the below themes:

• Inflammation and Leukocyte Trafficking
• Airway Physiology
• IgE Structure and Function
• Infection and Environment
• Therapeutic Approaches