Fungal Pathogens: Emerging Threats and Future Challenges - ABSTRACT Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Fungal Pathogens: Emerging Threats and Future Challenges, organized by Drs. Michail Lionakis, Sarah Gaffen and Mari Shinohara. The conference will be held in Banff, Alberta, Canada from February 18-21, 2024. Human pathogenic fungi have emerged as significant causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with acquired immunodeficiency conditions such as HIV/AIDS, as well as in receipt of myeloablative chemotherapy and targeted immunosuppressive therapies for autoimmune disorders, neoplastic diseases, and in hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplantation. Moreover, in recent years, emerging multidrug resistant Candida auris has been responsible for life-threatening outbreaks in healthcare facilities and raises serious concerns to global public health. Furthermore, a recent surge in the discovery and characterization of novel monogenic inborn errors of immunity that have been predisposed to mucocutaneous and/or invasive tissue-specific fungal disease, along with the development of clinically relevant animal models of mucocutaneous and invasive fungal infections, have collectively enhanced our understanding of cell type-, tissue-, and fungus-specific recognition, effector pathways, and adaptive immune responses. These advances, along with our improved molecular understanding of fungal virulence traits, highlight the promise for rapid development of targeted treatment strategies against fungal pathogens. Therefore, this Keystone Symposia conference will bring together, for the first time, scientists who study fungal virulence and fungal immunology, thus helping to synthesize current understanding of the cellular and molecular determinants of fungal pathogenesis and mammalian antifungal immunity. By encouraging cross- disciplinary exchange, this conference will advance key priorities of informing precision risk stratification, and defining prophylactic, therapeutic and vaccination strategies to combat life-threatening fungal infections in vulnerable patient populations.
