Reviews & Analysis

It has been 10 years since the first workshop on natural killer T cells helped to launch a growth phase for this field of research.

On 24–27 September 2008, members of the scientific community gathered to discuss advances in innate immunity at the 'Toll meeting' in Cascais, Portugal. Before long, attendees noticed that 'Toll2008' might be a misnomer.

The AIDS pandemic is caused by human immunodeficiency virus, which was discovered at the Institut Pasteur in 1983. In May 2008, scientists met in Paris to discuss the progress and setbacks of 25 years of research in this field and to debate future directions.

This report presents themes highlighted during the eclectic and stimulating Metchnikoff's Legacy in 2008 meeting hosted at the Institut Pasteur in April 2008 in honor of the 100^th anniversary of the 1908 Nobel Prize.

Increasing evidence suggests that immune mechanisms underlie major inflammatory diseases that show no overt microbial etiology. In this context, a 4-day conference of clinical and nonclinical scientists convened in the United Arab Emirates to consider recent research developments in this fast-moving field.

This report highlights the lively debate and discussions on lymphocyte plasticity and/or determinism that occurred at the second Ringberg Colloquium in February 2008 in the Bavarian hills near Tegernsee, Germany.

Every 2 years, scientists interested in immunomodulation meet to discuss new opportunities arising from interactions between basic science and clinical 'translation'. This report discusses the 8th International Conference on New Trends in Immunosuppression and Immunotherapy, 2008, in Berlin.

A June 2007 meeting of immunologists in Crete focused on the intricate interconnections between the innate and adaptive immune systems and their implications for host defense against pathogens.

At the first meeting of the new three-part EMBO Conference series on “Signaling in the immune system,” immunologists presented key findings and highlighted new questions and emerging trends.

The 4th International NKT Cell & CD1 Workshop was held 4–8 October 2006 at the Abbazia di Spineto, in the heart of Tuscany. This report highlights cutting-edge research and issues discussed at the meeting.

The recent meeting on “Immune Correlates of Protection from HIV Infection and Disease” examined new data from a variety of preclinical and clinical settings. These new insights may facilitate vaccine design and clinical evaluation.

The establishment and replenishment of thymic epithelium and the persistence of epithelial progenitor cells into adult life were discussed at ThymOz-V 2006.

Toll 2006, Recent Advances in Pattern Recognition, held in Salvador, Brazil, 4–7 March 2006, was both comprehensive and cutting edge, covering topics ranging from molecular recognition and signaling to new therapies in the clinic.

The second Aegean conference on 'Autoimmunity: Mechanisms and Novel Treatments' in September, 2005, discussed topics ranging from animal models of autoimmunity to lymphocyte interactions, as well as molecular influences of disease.

Lymphocyte lineage specification involves multiple regulatory factors that act in reciprocal fashion to ensure lineage committment and identity. New insights on how these factors interact were presented at the second Aegean Workshop on Gene Regulation in Lymphocyte Development.

The fourth EMBO workshop on “Lymphocyte antigen receptor and coreceptor signaling” gathered immunologists to share key findings, new questions and emerging trends in the field of cell signaling.

Dendritic cells at mucosal surfaces represent one of the first lines of immune recognition between the body and environmental pathogens and antigens. A meeting in July 2004 presented the latest understanding in the field.

The “Immune Regulatory Networks” meeting in Boston gathered scientists with a passion for regulatory T cells to discuss the latest information on an increasingly important subject.