Refresher Course: Immunology for the Physiologist
(Sponsored by The APS Education Committee)
Organizers:
Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D.
Kim Henige, Ph.D.
Date: Saturday, April 20, 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Boston Convention Center, Room 210A
The immune system is a complex physiological system comprised of organs, cells, proteins and molecules that provide protection against disease. The innate immune system provides a rapid response and initial layer of defense against foreign pathogens. The adaptive, or acquired immune system, is highly specific with a memory allowing for rapid responses to repeated pathogenic exposures. Many of these immune system components are evolutionarily conserved across species and immune system dysfunction is widely recognized as having an important underlying role in the pathophysiology of disease. This includes diseases with cardiovascular, renal, metabolic, respiratory, gastrointestinal or central nervous system origins. The intent of the EB2013 refresher course in physiology is to give a broad overview of immune system function, how it is regulated, and its causal role in the pathophysiology of disease. The course will begin with an overview of adaptive and innate immunity for the non-immunologist. Subsequently, neural control of immune system function and underlying mechanisms by which immune system activation promotes cardiovascular disease will be covered.
Presentations
Crash Course in Innate Immunity
David M. Mosser, Ph.D., University of Maryland
Crash Course in Adaptive Immunity
Ross M. Kedl, Ph.D., University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Neural Control of the Immune System
Peder S. Olofsson, M.D., Ph.D., Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Immune Control of the Cardiovascular System
David G. Harrison, M.D., Vanderbilt University School of Medicine