John Varga, M.D.

Keystone Symposia: Fibrosis
January 20–25, 2009

Register now for Keystone Symposia’s conference on “Fibrosis,” which takes place January 20–25, 2009 at Keystone Resort in Keystone, Colorado.

Organized by John Varga of Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine; Thomas A. Wynn of NIAID/NIH; and Shelia Violette of Stromedix, Inc., this four-day conference will feature a keynote address by Harry C. Dietz of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine on the evening of Tuesday, January 20, followed by four days of informative plenaries, short talks, workshops, and poster sessions.

Purpose:
Fibrosis is a major cause of morbidity worldwide, can affect nearly all tissues, and is a dominant feature of diseases ranging from pulmonary fibrosis to scleroderma and cancer. Current treatments targeting the inflammatory cascade are ineffective in fibrosis. On-going research focuses on the role of innate immunity, and intrinsic mesenchymal cell alterations, plasticity, and progenitor cell differentiation in the pathogenesis. Experimental models, genetics, and functional genomics have uncovered novel aspects of fibrosis, and innovative therapies are entering clinical trials. However, consensus on robust outcome measures or appropriate biomarkers for evaluating therapeutic effectiveness is lacking. This meeting brings together academic clinicians, researchers, and pharmaceutical industry representatives from a variety of fields to: (1) identify themes shared among the different fibrosing disorders; (2) delineate promising novel molecular and cellular targets and treatment strategies; and (3) discuss outcome measures and biomarkers for clinical trials. Opportunities for interdisciplinary interactions will be further enhanced by the concurrent meeting on “Allergy and Asthma.”

Early Registration Deadline – November 20, 2008

For more information including the full meeting program, please visit www.keystonesymposia.org/9J2.