• Medical_Professionals
• Medical_students
• Nurses

Among the most devastating diseases of the nervous system that plague today’s world with a heavy death toll are those caused by infections, such as cerebral malaria, rabies, toxoplasmosis, bacterial meningitis, arbovirus encephalitis and HIV-associated neurological diseases to name a few. The burden of these diseases is enhanced because survivors may often be left with neurological sequelae that affect motility, sensory organs and cognitive functions. This in turn seriously impairs socio-economic progress, especially in tropical regions where such diseases are particularly prevalent. With increasing manifestations of climate changes affecting our planet, pathogens spread by insect vectors may move to other regions. Examples include the 1999 outbreak of West Nile virus in the US, serious outbreaks of the human enterovirus 71 in Asia since 1997, and more recently, the re-emergence of Chikungunya virus in many parts of the world since 2005. These examples are but a few indicating how neurotropic infectious agents have such a profound impact on neural cell function causing either a fatal outcome or debilitating, prolonged neurological impairment. As the central nervous system is usually not the primary target site of infection, a window of opportunity exists to interfere with pathogen spreading. It is particularly important to develop therapies for neurological diseases that affect young victims and result in long lasting disease burden and impact on society.

The Gordon Research Conference on "Infections of the Nervous System" will advance knowledge in the field and promote exchanges between medical research centers in resource-rich and -poor regions. The format of GRC (community-based, small audience, focus on unpublished material) is ideal to create a multidisciplinary dialogue that will involve both clinicians and scientists studying disease mechanisms and host genetics, the molecular make-up of neurotropic infectious agents, and the innate and adaptive immune response to neurotropic pathogens. In addition, groups working on developing new technologies for diagnosis and prognosis will be included. This series will bring together renowned clinicians and scientists, who investigate clinical disease manifestations and the molecular mechanisms underlying worldwide infections of the nervous system in humans.

This meeting will foster collaborations to accelerate/expand investigations and use new technologies allowing fast development of diagnostic/prognostic tools and pioneering drug discoveries. The establishment of a strong community of top-ranked scientists working on infections of the nervous system will also increase the awareness of world-leading research institutions on the impact and challenges in this field and foster new research and training programs in that topic. The conference will open with keynote lectures followed by scientific sessions that will address in detail: how ways of invading the nervous system vary between pathogens; what are the specific neural target cells and their receptors for neurotropic pathogens; what are the characteristics of the immune and neural responses to invading pathogens; how clinical and pathogenesis studies can elucidate the nature of the nervous system damage caused by different pathogens; what are the new prospects for therapies and diagnostic in some of the diseases covered.

Another important objective of this conference is to attract young researchers and trainees from all continents in the field. These young trainees will present posters and/or short oral presentations, giving them ample time to discuss their work with the experts, which will trigger new collaborations and other research opportunities.

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