Project Summary/Abstract
This application for funding is to support expenses for the 2024 27th Annual Woods Hole
Immunoparasitology Meeting (WHIP), which brings together principal investigators, students and postdoctoral fellows
from around the world who are in the field of immunoparasitology. The 2024 meeting will be held on April 21-24, 2024,
as an in-person meeting with virtual components. The annual gathering of scholars in this field was established in 1997
with the intent to provide a collegial meeting place for scientists to exchange ideas in this important field. While there are
other meetings where senior principal investigators in this field present their data, the focus of this meeting is to provide a
forum where trainees (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) present their work to each other and established
investigators. The meeting also aims to provide the opportunity to highlight new junior faculty in the field in our virtual
component. The location was chosen because of the strong association of the Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL) and the
field of parasitology. This relationship began almost 40 years ago with the establishment of the annual summer course,
“Biology of Parasitism,” and with the annual Molecular Parasitology meeting held in the fall at the MBL. It is close to
laboratories on the east coast, and accessible via direct flights to Boston from around the world. Over 85% of the talks at
the WHIP meeting will be given by either graduate students or post-doctoral fellows, making this a unique meeting in the
field. In addition to the oral presentations, all of the students and post-doctoral fellows have the opportunity to present
their work in poster sessions. Thus, both in oral talks and poster sessions students and post-doctoral fellows in the field of
immunoparasitology gain valuable experience in presenting their data, as well as contacts that will be useful for advancing
their science and their careers.