2010 BIOLOGY OF SPIROCHETES GRC

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0220965
• Grant No.: 2010-65119-20557
• Proposal No.: 2009-05383
• Project Start Date: Feb 1, 2010
• Project End Date: Jan 31, 2012
• Grant Year: 2010
• Program Code: [92523]- Animal Health and Well-Being: Tools and Resources

Recipient Organization
GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCES, INC
512 LIBERTY LN
WEST KINGSTON,RI 02892-1502

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
The purpose of this conference is to assemble the most active and productive investigators in all areas of spirochete biology to share research advances at the leading edge of the field, develop collaborations, and delineate common research objectives. One of the strengths of this conference is the wide range of expertise and interests of the attendees, all linked by a central interest in a type of bacteria called spirochetes. Spirchete bacteria include the agents of Lyme disease, syphilis and leptospirosis. A major goal is to advance the entire field of spirochete biology research by providing a forum for cross-fertilization of ideas by investigators who have so few other established venues for interaction. In addition, the mentoring and encouragement of new researchers in this technically challenging field is a major goal of the investigators at the conference. The Gordon Research Conference is an excellent environment in which junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students can meet and interact with senior investigators in an informal, discussion-oriented format. Individuals from underrepresented groups, including women and minorities, are especially welcome. Numerous collaborations have arisen from previous Biology of Spirochetes conferences, including the publication of a multi-authored books that described advances in the field for an international audience of investigators well beyond the conference participants.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

100%

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
311	4010	1100	100%

Knowledge Area
311 - Animal Diseases;

Subject Of Investigation
4010 - Bacteria;

Field Of Science
1100 - Bacteriology;

Keywords

spirochete

leptospirosis

digital dermatitis

lyme disease

syphilis

periodontal disease

swine dysentary

Goals / Objectives
The purpose of this conference is to assemble the most active and productive investigators in all areas of spirochete biology to share research advances at the leading edge of the field, develop collaborations, and delineate common research objectives. One of the strengths of this conference is the wide range of expertise and interests of the attendees, all linked by a central interest in spirochetes, a unique class of bacteria. A major goal is to advance the entire field of spirochete biology research by providing a forum for cross-fertilization of ideas by investigators who have so few other established venues for interaction. In addition, the mentoring and encouragement of new researchers in this technically challenging field is a major goal of the investigators at the conference. The Gordon Research Conference is an excellent environment in which junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students can meet and interact with senior investigators in an informal, discussion-oriented format. Individuals from underrepresented groups, including women and minorities, are especially welcome. Numerous collaborations have arisen from previous Biology of Spirochetes conferences, including the publication of a few multi-authored books that translated advances in the field for an international audience of investigators well beyond the conference participants.

Project Methods
The Sunday evening to Friday morning conference will contain nine "plenary" sessions with invited oral presentations by leading researchers in the fields. These morning and evening sessions will be limited to 3-5 speakers (20 minutes each) per session, so that there is ample time available for discussion. As with all Gordon Conferences, no sessions will be held in the afternoons so participants can interact informally with one another. Beyond the substance of the discussion to advance the science, our intent is to project these accomplished investigators as role models for the young investigators and trainees and to encourage them to engage the conference's senior investigators in conversation during the informal activity time. Poster sessions will be held on four days, just prior to dinner; these are informal sessions where presenters and observers can talk about their respective work while enjoying light refreshments. We plan to have each poster on display for 4 days and discussion of each poster for 2 of the days. Abstracts submitted for poster presentations will be reviewed for selection of eight speakers to present short talks on late-breaking science (10 minutes each) to provide ample opportunity for students and fellows to present exciting new data. The invited speaker list was developed based on a review of current developments in several areas of spirochete research. Specifically, we reviewed developments in the areas of infection biology; evolution and genetics; ecology; gene regulation, genetic manipulation, and genomics; host-parasite interactions; structural biology and membrane structure; virulence factors; and host responses. The individuals selected were identified through current PubMed searches, lists of participants at the previous Gordon Conferences, and recommendations of colleagues in various sub-fields of spirochete research. For 2008, a special effort was made to include individuals who had participated in GRCs but had not previously served as a speaker. This successful strategy will be continued in 2010. The invited speakers and discussion leaders, including the new investigators, are all innovative investigators in their fields. As in past conferences, women are well represented as both discussion leaders and speakers (39% of Discussion Leaders, 30% of speakers, and 34% overall). Indeed, the participation of women as speakers is likely to increase once the choices of late-breaking speakers for the targeted plenary sessions are made by the Chair and Vice-Chair.

Progress 02/01/10 to 01/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Gordon Research Conference on BIOLOGY OF SPIROCHETES, was held at Ventura Beach Marriott, Ventura, California, January 31 - February 5, 2010. The Conference was well-attended with 172 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 172 attendees, 92 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 92 respondents, 17% were Minorities - 4% Hispanic, 1% American Indian, 12% Asian & 1% African American. Approximately 40% of the participants at the 2010 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings. If you wish any further details, please feel free to contact me. Thank you. Sincerely, Richard P. Ellen, Conference Chairperson UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
SPIROCHETES, BIOLOGY OF January 31 - February 5, 2010 Ventura Beach Marriott Ventura, CA Chair: Richard P. Ellen Vice Chair: Patricia A. Rosa The Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Spirochetes is devoted to discussions of leading edge fundamental research of all medically important and biologically relevant spirochetes, a unique group of Eubacteria. Many spirochetes are pathogens and cause a variety of diseases, including syphilis, Lyme borreliosis, relapsing fever borreliosis, leptospirosis, periodontal disease, digital dermatitis of cattle, and swine and human dysentery. Certain nonpathogenic spirochetes are also of great interest, such as the termite gut symbionts. The purpose of this conference is to assemble the most active and productive investigators in all areas of spirochete biology to share research advances at the frontier of the field, to develop collaborations, and to delineate common research objectives. The intention is to provide a forum for exchange of ideas among groups working on different spirochetes and an opportunity for senior graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and new investigators in the field to develop international contacts and collaborative networks. Indeed, this conference has a proactive program to promote active participation by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and new investigators, especially women and other underrepresented minorities. The conference embraces progress at the leading edge of infection and immunity as well as contemplation of theoretical biology. The application of genetic advancements, high throughput technology, and the availability of genomic sequences for Borrelia burgdorferi, B. garinii, Treponema pallidum, T. denticola, Leptospira spp. and other spirochetes are providing a wealth of new information. This progress is being integrated into ongoing studies on the biology, physiology, structure-function relationships, chemotaxis, pathogenesis, gene regulation, and immunobiology as well as tissue invasion and evasion strategies of these bacteria. For the 2010 GRC, we have increased the number of oral presentations of late-breaking research that will be selected from the abstracts submitted by new investigators. We also encourage new investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and senior graduate students in related fields such as vector-borne infections, sexually transmitted infections, and mixed anaerobic infections to consider this GRC program and to submit an application and research abstract.

Publications

• No publications reported this period