International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists Returns to UH Hilo August 1 – 5, 2010
The International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists, devoted to a diverse group of microorganisms that cause serious problems in AIDS patients and other patients with defective immune systems, returns to Hilo August 1-5, 2010 to hold their 11th International Workshop.
Maintaining a home in Hilo, Conference Chair Edna Kaneshiro, from the University of Cincinnati comments “There are immunodeficient people worldwide and these populations are increasing. These workshops are vital because scientists share the most current research on pathogens (disease causing agents, such as viruses and bacteria) that normally do not cause disease but can be fatal to those with weak immune systems, including cancer, transplant, AIDS patients, or infants and the elderly.”
Much of the work being discussed at IWOP is basic research on organisms that include the agents of pneumonia in AIDS patients, intestinal pathogens and microsporidia (present in contaminated drinking water), Toxoplasma (transmitted by cat feces), and free-living amoebae that gain entry into the bodies of such immunodeficient individuals.
The first meeting on Protists was initiated to serve the small, but growing international scientific community interested in working with the unusual, non-cultivatable organism Pneumocystis. Today, IWOP is regarded as the most important meeting for most researchers of Pneumocystis, Cryptosporidium, and the microsporidia.
According to Judith Fox-Goldstein, UH Hilo Conference Center Administrator, “We are delighted to welcome back the IWOP scientists to UH Hilo and to the Big Island. In 2003, Dr. Kaneshiro brought the IWOP meeting to the Island and, based on the success of that meeting, the IWOP Committee made the decision to return to UH Hilo and will be holding their meeting at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. The meeting will be coordinated by the UH Hilo Conference Center. “
This year’s workshop participants include MDs who specialize in infectious diseases, treat patients and also do research:
- Dr. Jens Lundgren, who heads the Copenhagen HIV Programme (CHIP) which coordinates international studies of clinical research related to HIV, will discuss HIV Treatment to prevent infections. Dr. Lundgren is a specialist in infectious diseases, internal medicine and tropical medicine, and professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University of Copenhagen.
- Dr. Laurence Huang is involved in clinical and translational research related to HIV- associated pulmonary disease, primarily Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Pneumocystis is commonly found in the lungs of healthy people, but being a source of opportunistic infection it can cause a lung infection in people with a weak immune system and is especially seen in people with cancer and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Huang is Professor of Medicine, UCSF and Chief, AIDS Chest Clinic, San Francisco General Hospital
IWOP-11 is being sponsored by Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Romark Laboratories, Inc, the University of Hawaii at Hilo Conference Center, and Waterborne, Inc.
For more information about the workshops contact Kaneshiro at (513) 253-6393or e mail Edna.Kaneshiro@uc.edu, or contact the UH Hilo Conference Center at http://uhhconferencecenter.com or Judith Fox-Goldstein at foxgolds@hawaii.edu
Edna S. Kaneshiro, Chair, IWOP-11 Scientific Program Organizing Committee, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
IWOP-11 Rainforest & Waterfalls Fieldtrip
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
(morning conference sessions, 3/4-day Fieldtrip)
Breakfast at Hotel on Own
10:30am-5:00pm: Rainforest & Waterfalls Optional Fieldtrip
(Lunch included, Guests invited)
INCLUSIONS
- Transportation: school bus
- Boxed lunch & healthy snack included
- Resources: Educational Field Interpreter & Ehtnobotanical Experts
- Admission & guided tour of World Botanical Gardens & Umauma Falls
- Hamakua Coastline Tour including Akaka Falls and Honomu Town
ADVISORY
- Weather: for an up-to-date forecast, please visit the NOAA site here. (Zipcode = 96728)
- Please dress comfortably for a tropical climate, wear sturdy covered walking shoes, and bring a light rain jacket and/or umbrella.
- We will be walking over some uneven ground, and steep terrain at times.
ITINERARY
- 10:15am – Gather in front lobby of Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Bus Curbside
- 10:30am – Depart Hilo Hawaiian Hotel
- Tour of Hamakua Coastline, Scenic Route
- Honomu Town & Akaka Falls
- Lunch at World Botanical Gardens & Umauma Falls
- Guided tour of World Botanical Gardens & Umauma Falls
- Return to Hilo Hawaiian Hotel
