XXIII International Poxvirus, Asfarvirus, and Iridovirus Conference

This application for NIAID funding is to help support selected expenses for the 2020 XXIII International Poxvirus, Asfarvirus and Iridovirus Conference. This conference is the premier meeting in the field that brings together principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and students from around the world who study poxvirology and other large DNA viruses. The 2020 meeting will be held on June 26 to June 30, 2020 in Philadelphia, PA. This conference, which is held every other year, was established in 1977 with the intent to provide a collegial meeting place for scientists to exchange ideas in this important field. The meeting averages around 200 participants. While there are other more general meetings where senior principal investigators in this field present their data, the focus of this meeting is to provide a forum where graduate students and postdoctoral fellows present their work to each other and established investigators. The meeting also aims to provide the opportunity to highlight new junior faculty in the field. The majority of presentations are given by either graduate students or post-doctoral fellows in a setting of vibrant discussions where ideas are exchanged. In addition to the oral presentations, students and post-doctoral fellows have the opportunity to present their work in poster sessions. Thus, both in oral sessions and poster sessions, students and post- doctoral fellows in the field of poxvirology gain valuable experience in presenting their data, as well as contacts that will be useful for advancing their science and their careers. Historically, the meeting location alternates between North America and Europe. However, for the first time in the meeting’s history, the 2018 meeting was held in Asia. The Conference for 2020 returns to North America for the first time since 2014 (and the first time in the U.S. since 2010). The location of the 2020 meeting was chosen to allow easy travel of the national and international scientific community. Philadelphia is easily accessible by car or train, and from around the greater United States and the world via direct flights to Philadelphia International Airport. This community of scientists have been playing a key role in the US government’s efforts to develop an effective response to the public health concerns regarding smallpox, monkeypox, and other emerging poxvirus diseases. In addition, with the success of a poxvirus-based recombinant vaccines and the use of poxviruses as oncolytic agents in the treatment of cancer, there is a critical need to improve poxviruses as vaccine vectors and therapeutics. Thus, the XXIII International Poxvirus, Asfarvirus and Iridovirus Conference is extremely relevant to the scientific mission of the NIAID and will provide a venue for discussions of new understandings of the basic biology of these important viruses and how they can be translated into regimens that can improve human health and safety.