The 13th International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP13) |
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| Authors: | Enrique J Calderon Melanie T Cushion Lihua Xiao Jacob Lorenzo‐Morales Olga Matos Edna S Kaneshiro Louis M Weiss |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Internal Medicine, Center of Biomedical Research Network in Epidemiology and Public Health, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, Seville, Spain;2. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;3. Veterans Administration Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;4. Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center of Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA;5. Department of Parasitology, Ecology and Genetics, Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands, University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain;6. Department of Medical Parasitology, CMDT, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal;7. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;8. Departments of Medicine and Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA |
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| Abstract: | The 13th International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP‐13) was held November 13–15, 2014 in Seville, Spain. The objectives of the IWOP meetings are to: (1) serve as a forum for exchange of new information among active researchers concerning the basic biology, molecular genetics, immunology, biochemistry, pathogenesis, drug development, therapy, and epidemiology of these immunodeficiency‐associated pathogenic eukaryotic microorganisms that are seen in patients with AIDS and; (2) to foster the entry of new and young investigators into these underserved research areas. The IWOP meeting focuses on opportunistic protists; e.g. the free‐living amoebae, Pneumocystis, Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma, the Microsporidia, and kinetoplastid flagellates. This conference represents the major conference which brings together research groups working on these opportunistic pathogens. Progress has been achieved on understanding the biology of these pathogenic organisms, their involvement in disease causation in both immune deficient and immune competent hosts and is providing important insights into these emerging and reemerging pathogens. A continuing concern of the participants is the ongoing loss of scientific expertise and diversity in this research community. This decline is due to the small size of these research communities and an ongoing lack of understanding by the broader scientific community of the challenges and limitations faced by researchers working on these organisms, which makes these research communities very sensitive to declines in research funding. |
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| Keywords: | Acanthamoeba Blastocystis Cryptosporidium Giardia Microsporidia Pneumocystis Toxoplasma |
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