P 1 M U N O L O G Y TO DAb'

The I Oth International Congress of Immunology

Every three years, immunologists of the

world congregate to hear, present and dis-

cuss pertinent advances in various facets of

immunology and related sciences. As the

1998 congress* will be the last both of this

century and of the millennium, it will pro-

vide overviews of past immunological

milestones and projections as to what the

future may bring.

The congress has aimed to provide an

exciting, contemporary and useful scientific

programme. No doubt new information ac-

quired during the past three years on the

immune system and its working will fea-

ture prominently, however, because this

congress is taking place for the first time in

an economically developing country, em-

phasis has been placed on clinical and ben-

eficial aspects of immunology. The pro-

gramme comprises five themes with five

symposia in each (see Box 1).

The strength of the programme lies not

only in the topics but also in the distinguished

speakers, amongst the best in the field, who

have agreed to take part. Space does not per-

mit the mention of individual names, how-

ever, the provisional programme can be vis-

ited at www.afl.co.in/indtravels/confenhtm.

A new feature of the congress is the up-

grading and restructuring of the workshops,

which occupy nearly 50% of the congress

timetable. Traditional workshops have pro-

vided scope for free communication in the

form of posters, and a proportion of these are

selected by co-chairpersons for brief oral pre-

sentation - such communications are at times

disparate. Instead, we have planned Interac-

tive Workshops (IWs). Each IW has four

speakers from amongst established investiga-

tors who are invited to take part. In this re-

spect, these workshops are an extension of

the symposia. The difference, however, is that

instead of four serial presentations of about

25 minutes each with little discussion, each

invited speaker in the IW is asked to speak for

not more than 8-10 minutes at a time. How-

ever, they can speak in more than one instal-

ment. The presentations will be interspersed

with discussions, comments and questions,

aswell as brief oral presentations from those

submitting free abstracts. These 1Ws have

been given a longer time slot of three hours

than the two hours given to symposia, and

are hoped to be lively and highly useful.

At present 86 Interactive Workshops are

scheduled that cover a wide array of topics.

These amplify the range of subjects under

each theme and provide scope for inclusion

of topics not formally mentioned in the five

themes. Prominent amongst these subjects

is mucosal immunology, for which five

IWs, two on basic aspects and three on ap-

plied clinical aspects, are scheduled; sexu-

ally transmitted diseases and immunity in

the reproductive tract are also addressed.

Tumour immunology and immunother-

apy of cancer have three heavily subscribed

workshops besides two symposium talks

Emerging technologies on antibody engi-

neering, and the production of human anti.

bodies and antigens in yeast and plants wil

be discussed by leaders in the field, as well a~';

a symposium on plant-expressed vaccines.

Workshops are also scheduled on Neuroim-

munobiology; Immune Mechanisms in Ocu-

lar Diseases; Aging and Immunity; Nutritioi t

and Immunity; Targeted Delivery of Drugs;

Immunomodulators of Plant Origin; Drug:;

of Abuse; and Exercise and Stress Immunol-

ogy, which do not per se fall in any of the five

themes. The programme gives much empha-

sis to autoimmune disorders with five work-

shops covering topics such as the genetics of

autoimmunity, systemic autoimmune disor-

ders, organ-specific autoimmune diseases,

cardiovascular autoimmunity and vascu-

lotides, atherosclerosis, and endocrine aute-

immunity. A separate workshop is devoted

to new drugs for immunological diseases.

As a large number of active and eminent

scientists have agreed to be speakers in

these IWs, we have provided 375 addition~ 1

places for distinguished scientists and lead-

ers in the field to take part, together with

the 100 symposia and six plenary speakers

(Box 2). To encourage young researchers,

the organizers of the congress have decided

to give 100 prizes for the best posters and

oral presentations. The Prize Committee

will be guided by the recommendations of

the co-chairpersons of the workshops. To

give a more lasting status to the abstracts

volume, this will appear as a supplement to

Box I. Programme of congress themes I lmmunocyte development

Developmental cues in B- and T-cell comm:itment; evolutionary relationships in the im-

mune system; development and selection of dendrites and accessory cells in the innate

immune system; signal transduetion in immunocyte development; generation of pep- tide repertoires

2 Immunocyte activation

Structural basis of immune-cognitive interactions; cell membrane-related events dur-

ing immunocyte activation; transcriptional modulation during activation of immuno-

cytes; physiological significance of receptor antagonism; costimulatory signals and modulation of immune responses 3 Effector immune mechanisms

Cytokines, inflammation and allergy; mechanisms of cytotoxicity; regulation of T-cell

commitment to alternate cytokine profiles; definition and regulation of immune mem- ory; migration and homing of immunocytes 4 Immunity and disease

Autoimmunity with and ~ t h o u t disease; immunopathogenetic mechanisms in infec- tious diseases; T cell-macrophage-pathogen interactions; HIV without AIDS - immune

mechanisms; non-MHC-linked genes in immunity and disease 5 Beneficial aspects of immunology

Vaccines, new t a r g ~ and designs; novel vaccines and immunotherapy; immunology and

public health; allergy and hypersensitivity; transplantation and autoimmune disorders

* The 10th International Congress of Immunology will be held at C) C T © B E R I 9 9 8 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India, on 1 6 November 1998.

I ' 4 M U N O L O G Y T O DA'~

Box 2. Plenary lectures Prof. Peter Doherty - Cell-mediated immunity in acute and persistent

virus infections Dr Anthony S. Fauci - Host factors in

the pathogenesis of HIV disease

Prof. N.A. Mitchison - Immunoregu-

lation: theory and practice Prof. Rolf Zinkernagel - On viruses

and immunity Prof. G.J.V. Nossal - The immunolog-

ical revolution and world health:

challenges for the new millennium

Dr Inder Verma - Gene therapy, prob-

lems and prospects

The Immunologist, bearing a permanent li-

brary reference; authors of interesting ab-

stracts will be invited to submit manuscripts

for publication in Immunology Letters. There

will be no official or formal publication of

the proceedings of the congress, although

an enterprising Italian publisher is planning

to publish manuscripts on a voluntary basis.

Short reports on certain presentations will

be prepared by experts and published in a

special issue of The Immunologist.

The congress schedule provides partici-

pants with the opportunity both to listen to

topics outside their subject area and to focus

in detail on a given theme. The programme

has been designed, where possible, to avoid

overlap of related areas, with one of the five

symposia in each theme running on each of

the five days of the week.

A large congregation could be baffling,

especially to newcomers, so to allow in-

Box 3. Satell • VII International congress of reproductiv

• V International veterinary immunology

• International Symposium on the major

Delhi, 29-31 October 1998.

• International symposium on current tre:

immune diseases, Lucknow, 30-31 Octe

• International symposium on tumour in:

• International symposium on complem~

ber 1998. • Catalytic and super antibodies, New D~

• Satellite congress on myasthenia gravis,

• Second ICGEB virology symposium, N4

O C T O B E R I 9 9 8

creased individual interaction, speakers in

the morning symposia and plenary lecture

have been requested to take lunch in a de-

fined location for each theme. This allows

participants to meet them and discuss issues

for which time may not have been available

during the sessions. Such interactions could

be extended during 'happy hour' or

evening social functions.

Symposium, derived from the greek

Symposion' conceives of the exchange of

~deas over wine and food, and indeed sev-

eral social functions are planned including:

:he welcome reception following the inau-

guration of the congress by the President of

india; a soir6e of Indian classical dances to

;avour the rich cultural heritage of the

:ountry; a cocktail reception following the

Lward of the Novartis Prizes; a special din-

mr for the invited speakers and their

~,pouses/companions; a n d finally, a gala

buffet dinner for all delegates, with cuisine

rom different parts of the country aswell as

l olk music and dances - active participation

~pf delegates in Bhangra and Indian pop

~nusic dances will be encouraged to make

t he last evening of the congress a joyful ex-

perience. Elephant and camel rides will be

,vailable to those interested and some em-

l .assies are likely to give receptions to dele-

~:ates from their countries.

India is a land of rich and incredibly di-

erse cultural heritage shaped by 5000

ears of recorded history. It is a country

where the ancient and contemporary exist

side by side. There is much to see and expe-

rience: 16 monuments are listed by UN-

tSCO in the category of the Universal

conferences mmunology, New Delhi, 27-,30 October 1998.

,mposium, Ludhiana, 8-12 November 1998.

stocompatibility complex in medicine, New

s in the pathogenesis and treatment of auto-

~r 1998. unology, Calcutta, 29-31 October 1998.

in human disease, New Delhi, 29-31 Octo-

i, 30 October -1 November 1998.

~oa, 8--11 November 1998

, DelhL 9-11, November 1998.

Heritage of Man, and for those wishing to

make the most of their visit the travel con-

sortium of the congress has offered 16 pre-

and post-congress tours. Social pro-

grammes for accompanying persons not at-

tending the congress will include visits to

the National Museum, local sightseeing

and shopping, lessons in Yoga, and herbal

health and beauty treatments.

Nine satellite congresses and symposia

will be held in Delhi, Ludhiana, Lucknow,

Calcutta and Goa on dates aligned with

those of the main congress (Box 3). Partici-

pants in satellite meetings will get a reduc-

tion of $50 for registration to the main con-

gress; a reduction of $25 will be given for

registration to satellite meetings to those at-

tending the main congress.

A Continuing Education Workshop in

Immunology is scheduled three days be-

fore the congress to provide an update in

the latest immunology advances. Tutorials

and demonstrations will be offered during

the congress by Pharmingen and Becton

Dickinson on flow cytometry, and new

reagents and methodologies. An Interna-

tional Immunobiotechnology Exhibition

will be held at the Pragati Maidan, a vast

sprawling complex housing a Science Mu-

seum together with the air-conditioned

conference halls. The Handicrafts Museum

in the same complex will have live displays

of artisans at work, with many of their

goods for sale. A cinema in the complex

will show choice Indian films to fill in the

vacant moments.

Registration to the congress will be open

until the last day to facilitate latecomers.

The organizers are pleased to note that over

2000 have already registered from 62 coun-

tries, and delegates from five countries will

be taking part in an immunology congress

for the first time. Abstracts received by 31

August will be included in the abstract vol-

ume; those received later will be printed in

a computer aided Addendum.

Prof. G.P. Talwar is President of the 10th Interna- tional Congress of Immunology.

G.P. Talwar (talwar@del3.vsnl.net.in) is at the

International Centre for Genetic Engineering

and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110 067, India.