The 20th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Virology Association

The Rocky Mountain Virology Association will hold its 20th annual meeting in October 2020. The meeting brings together regional and national investigators in virology and prion biology for a 3-day retreat- style conference with extensive interaction and collaboration. The original meeting was organized by investigators in Colorado and Wyoming who were interested in the free and open exchange of scientific data and ideas concerning general virology in a venue that promotes collaboration among students, post-doctoral researchers and faculty members. Specifically, our annual meeting at the Mountain Campus of Colorado State University encourages young scientists to present their research and receive feedback from established scientists. The goals are promotion of scientific interactions and training. A major benefit of participation has been the novel collaborations that arise between scientists in different disciplines, i.e. RNA stability and Flavivirus biology. The topics discussed include medical virology (vaccines, epidemiology, viral zoonoses), arthropod-borne diseases (RNA viruses and RNA metabolism, viral vectors and vector biology), host defenses (viral immunology and pathogenesis), prion biology, and cancer biology. Special sessions on HIV pathogenesis, vaccine development, pandemic influenza, prions, virus discovery and the global impact of viral diseases have been featured at past meetings. The next meeting will feature perhaps the most disparate, yet now intimately tied fields, epidemiology and epigenetics. This meeting offers extravagant collaborative opportunities. The attendees include scientists from Colorado State University, The University of Colorado, the University of Wyoming, the University of Northern Colorado, the Centers for Disease Control (Fort Collins) and the Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service as well as scientists from regional biotech companies, and universities in Iowa, Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana and Utah. The Rocky Mountain Virology Association was incorporated in 2010 as a tax-exempt educational charity (Section 501(c)(3)). Our board of directors is charged with encouraging student and junior faculty involvement by minimizing costs as we encourage women and minorities to participate in all stages of program presentation and development. Everyone involved in programming is a volunteer. Our attendance is now limited by the venue to a maximum of 124 individuals. The growth of the meeting to capacity over the last three years is welcome; It illustrates a strong desire on the part of regional scientists to participate, but the continued growth in regional and national interest may require increased frequency or larger venues. Any expansion will focus on maintaining a cloistered scientific environment to maximize effective collaborative interactions in an inspirational environment. Funds for this proposal are requested to provide minority grants and childcare, reduced registration fees for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and early-stage investigators, and for travel and housing for seven invited speakers. Registration fees, charitable contributions, and sponsorships cover the base costs for the meeting. The RMVA has been a source of communication and collaboration for the Rocky Mountain region, with outreach across the nation, for nineteen years. The Rocky Mountain region is very large geographically and research and education in the virology has significantly increased over the last few years. Our efforts and NIAID support have expanded interest in this meeting beyond the region to national and international levels to the benefit of the regional students and investigators and to the health and wellbeing of the nation.