The Accelerating Pace of HCV Research: A Summary of the 15th International Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus and Related Viruses
published online 20 November 2008.
Almost 800 research scientists convened in San Antonio in early October 2008 to share recent results and new insights concerning hepatitis C virus (HCV). The 15th International Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus and Related Viruses opened with a mini-symposium recognizing progress made over the past 20 years since the discovery of HCV. This was followed by 10 keynote talks, 61 oral presentations, and 379 poster presentations over the succeeding 4 days. Our intent is to succinctly summarize the most notable findings reported, a task made extraordinarily difficult by the volume, diversity, and quality of science presented. At best, this cursory overview vividly demonstrates the robust pace of the research that is unraveling the mysteries of this unique and potentially deadly human pathogen.
⁎Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas
‡Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
§Department of Molecular Virology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
∥Section of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
¶Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
#Immunology Section, Liver Diseases Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland
⁎⁎University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
‡‡Institute for Human Infections & Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
Address requests for reprints to: Stanley M. Lemon, MD, Institute of Human Infections & Immunity, 6.200 Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas 77555-0610. fax: (409) 747-6514
The authors disclose the following: Supported in part by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grants U19-AI040035 (to S.M.L., R.E.L., M.G.), R01-AI060389 (to M.G.), NIKKD, NIH intramural research program (BR) R01-AI47519 (to K.-M.C.), and K99-AI077800 (to M.J.E.), National Cancer Institute grant K01-CA107092 (to B.L.), and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant Lo 1556/1-1 (to V.L.).
S.M.L. serves as a consultant to Genelabs Technologies, Abbott Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer, and R.E.L. is a consultant for Abbott Laboratories. The remaining authors disclose no conflicts of interest.
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