ABSTRACT
Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Regulation of Barrier Immunity, organized by
Drs. David Artis, Yasmine Belkaid, Fiona Powrie and Kenya Honda. The conference will be held in Banff, Alberta,
Canada from February 18-21, 2024.
The barrier surfaces of multicellular organisms are immunologically active, highly innervated and become sites
where host genetic and environmental signals are integrated to regulate local and systemic physiology. These
tissues are sites of infection and chronic inflammatory diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, asthma, allergy,
inflammatory bowel diseases and cancer. However, fundamental gaps in knowledge remain regarding the
complex interplay between the structural components of tissues (epithelium, sensory apparatus, stroma or
vasculature) and the microbial factors and inflammatory mediators at barrier sites. This Keystone Symposia
conference is designed to explore new cross-disciplinary paradigms in barrier immunity through integration of
emerging topics in understanding of host-microbe interactions and environmental factors with sensory networks
of the epithelia, nervous and immune systems. This conference will showcase how a multidisciplinary and global
approach to barrier immunity and will guide development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of
multiple infectious and inflammatory diseases including asthma, allergy, inflammatory bowel diseases and
cancer.