Some attendees and speakers of the 2023 Center of Excellence in Immunology symposium.
In September 2023, CCR hosted a two-day international symposium, titled “Frontiers in Basic Immunology,” sponsored by the NCI Center of Excellence in Immunology (CEI). There were over 1,200 registrants, with an approximately even split of external and internal attendees. The program included a lineup of presentations from NCI and worldwide academic university speakers and a lively poster session.
This year, the symposium was offered both virtually and in person, but many chose to still participate on campus at the NIH.
“Despite the hybrid format, the conference room was packed on both days; the attendees were enthusiastic and interactive,” remarked Jonathan D. Ashwell, M.D., Chief of the Laboratory of Immune Cell Biology, who gave a talk on the first day titled, “The Anatomy, Regulation, and Function of Glucocorticoids Produced in the Thymus.”
The annual event strives to offer beneficial interactions between CCR early-career tenure-track investigators and scientists who have been in the field for decades. To further such interactions, trainees who attended were encouraged to ask questions and given priority at the microphone.
Stanley Adoro, Ph.D., Stadtman Investigator in the Experimental Immunology Branch, presented “A Proteostasis Link to Cell Autonomous T Cell Dysfunction” on the second day. “I got many insightful questions and suggestions from expert colleagues in the audience that we will incorporate into our study,” he said. “I also got to network with invited extramural investigators.”
Collaborations and the exchange of ideas were another highlight for many of the attendees, such as the presentation of an exciting computational model for CAR T cell engagement of tumor cells that was jointly presented by several NCI investigators. Laurie T. Krug, Ph.D., is a tenure-track investigator who joined the NCI HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch a few months before the pandemic began.
“I was thrilled to be invited to present. At the event, I uncovered shared interests with other PIs and discovered new models to explore the interplay of the virus I study with the immune response of the host. I hope the next time I attend, I might be presenting a new collaborative project.”
NCI Centers of Excellence
The NCI CEI is one of four Centers of Excellence within the NCI Intramural Research Program. These Centers are multidisciplinary venues that generate connections among diverse intellectual, financial and physical resources. The CEI's mission is to foster discovery, development and delivery of novel immunologic approaches for the prevention and treatment of cancer-associated viral diseases.
Save the Date
The next annual symposium will be held September 26 and 27, 2024, at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The event, titled “Past, Present, and Future of Cellular Immunotherapy,” will be celebrating Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., and his 50 years of service at NCI.