Salmonella: Pathogenesis, Epidemiology and Vaccine Development

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Salmonella serotypes are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality among livestock, thereby posing a significant threat to animal health and well-being. In addition, Salmonella serotypes are a leading cause of bacterial food-borne disease, hereby posing a significant problem for food-safety. With this proposal we seek support for the ASM meeting entitled "Salmonella: Pathogenesis, Epidemiology and Vaccine Development" which is to be held September 21-24, 2003 in Sardinia, Italy. The specific aim of this conference is to bring together scientists to advance research on Salmonella serotypes by identifying research needs and updating participants on current research developments. This aim will be accomplished by hosting sessions on molecular epidemiology, genomics, pathogenesis, bacteriophages, host adaptation and vaccine development, thereby providing coverage of a diverse selection of current research topics. As evident from the preliminary program (see attached) more than half of the invited speakers are from European countries. In addition, we will select 28 short talks from the poster abstract to promote the representation of young scientists. The last time a similar conference was held was the 1992 NATO Advanced Research Workshop on the "Biology of Salmonella" in Messina, Italy. Given the major advances in research since the last Salmonella meeting was held 11 years ago and the importance of Salmonella serotypes for animal health and food safety, organizing this meeting seems well justified.

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APPROACH: The meeting will be held from September 20th to 24th at the Center For Biotechnology Development and Biodiversity Research which is located near Alghero, Italy. We propose a 4-day meeitng with seven sessions. Each 3 hour session will be composed of presentations (25 minutes) from 4 invited speakers and of 3 short (10 minute) talks selected from the poster abstracts. We expect that 120-150 participants would attend this meeting. The bulk of attendees are expected to consist of researchers and epidemiologist from Europe and the US, which are interested in Salmonella. With this application, we seek support for invited speakers from the United States.

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PROGRESS: 2003/08 TO 2004/07<BR>
The specific aim of this conference was to bring together scientists to advance research on Salmonella serotypes by identifying research needs and updating participants on current research developments. This meeting brought together internationally recognized leaders in Salmonella research to present their latest results on vaccine development, pathogenesis, host adaptation, and mechanisms of persistent carriage. In addition, several talks focused on the latest development on epidemics with multiple antibiotic resistant strains. This meeting is unique in its coverage of a broad spectrum of research areas related to Salmonella, which will bring together scientists from a variety of different backgrounds to identify research needs and to update participants on current research developments.
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IMPACT: 2003/08 TO 2004/07<BR>
The meeting was well-attended and many collaborations were formed. Another meeting is planned for three years.