Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Response
September 11 – 15, 2023
ABSTRACT
The fourteenth international conference on Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Response will focus on
interdisciplinary approaches to study infectious disease, integrating the disciplines of molecular microbiology,
eukaryotic cell biology, immunology, and genomics. Microbial diseases have once again taken an important
central role in health care worldwide, due to the emergence of new pathogens, the re-ascent of common
pathogens, and extensive drug resistance. Outside of human health, devastating pandemics are destabilizing
ecosystems, with brown bats and amphibians currently under extreme threat. The meeting will provide an in-
depth focus on the approaches that are being used to elucidate the mechanisms of bacterial and fungal
pathogenesis, and promote the application of these concepts to novel strategies for the control and intervention
of infectious diseases. Oral and poster sessions will focus on major emerging themes of microbial pathogenesis
and the host response, including: the pathogenesis of microbial diseases; the molecular regulation of host-
pathogen interactions, host cell/pathogen interaction biology, and the diversity of pathogen strategies to evade
innate immunity. The sessions will integrate studies on bacterial and fungal pathogens. The oral sessions will
begin with 2-3 invited talks by established leaders in the field, followed by several shorter talks chosen from
submitted abstracts. Broad themes for individual sessions include: (1) role of microbial toxins and effectors in
microbial diseases; (2) fundamental cell biological interactions during infection, (3) innate immune responses to
microbial infection’ (4) key molecular regulation of host-microbial interactions; (5) microbial communities in health
and disease, and (6) using state-of-the art technologies to visualize host-pathogen interactions. The inclusion of
two poster sessions as well as the allotment of ample time for questions following each talk will encourage
extensive discussion between the participants. The meeting will be small enough (250-350 scientists) to facilitate
these interactions, yet large enough to allow for oral presentations not only from established investigators, but
also from junior investigators and those with novel perspectives. The integration of a wide variety of aspects of
bacterial and fungal pathogenesis with the host response to pathogens should promote new interdisciplinary
interactions that are seldom achieved at other meetings on microbial pathogenesis that are either more narrowly
focused or so diverse that the topics are challenging to integrate. The resulting interdisciplinary interactions will
facilitate the development of conceptual and experimental approaches that might not otherwise be possible.