This workshop organized by the Division of AIDS, National Instituted Allergy and Infection Diseases, NIH will include discussion of current status of the models, future plans, as well as potential use of the models for addressing critical issues in basic immune response studies, pathogenesis, therapeutics, vaccines and microbicides development.

Confirmed speakers and moderators include:

Harris Goldstein
Lishan Su
J. Victor Garcia Martinez
Roberto Speck
Oliver Keppler
Dan Littman
Ramesh Akkina
Jeremy Luban

There is no registration fee. Please register early, as space may be limited.

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To register online, click here.

 

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1. MODEL ADVANTAGES: What unique advantages does your model offer over the other recently reported humanized mouse and rat models versus SCID-hu and HuPBL-SCID, and existing non-human primate models?
2. POSSIBLE STUDIES: What types of studies does your model permit that were not possible previously?  Can you expand on categories of studies, for example. therapeutics, vaccines, PrEP, PEP, pathogenesis, immunology studies, prevention, and microbicides.
3. LIMITATIONS: What are the limitations of your model?  Be honest!
4. COHORT SIZE: What size cohorts of mice can you routinely make?  How many reconstituted mice can you make per week/month?  Are these available to other investigators? If not, what are the limitations? How consistent and reproducible are reconstitution and infection in your system?  Please provide percentages of success for infection and numbers of mice that can be generated (week or month) based on your experience.
5. MODEL AVAILABILITY: How widely available is your system, especially the availability of the strain of mice used?  Who supplies your mice?  Is your mouse strain commercially available?  If it is commercially available and you do not use it please explain why not.
6. STEM CELLS and FETAL TISSUE: Please provide the following details about the stem cells/fetal tissue used for the model: source and availability; amount needed for your model; can they be pooled from multiple donors; and must the cells/tissue be fresh or can they be frozen?
7. MODEL DEVELOPMENT: Please provide the details of the model development.  We are particularly interested in parameters such as  titer of inoculating virus, characteristics of the virus(s) used  (strain, source), use of cell-free and/or cell-associated virus,  if a laboratory isolate or a clinical isolate is used, and what clades, routes of inoculation,  and efficiency of infection (methods and ranges for the endpoint) have been used and measured. 
8. HUMAN CELL DISTRIBUTION: What are the identity (including subsets R5/X4 expression), functionality, and tissue distribution of subtypes of human immune cells in blood and at mucosal sites?  Please include information on the female reproductive tract, rectum, lung, and GALT in these models and variations from animal to animal.  How do these parameters compare to similar human sites?  If your model does not have a human thymic epithelium, how do immature T cells get educated (positive and negative selection)?
9. CURRENT SCIENTIFIC STUDIES: Provide a brief overview of some of the scientific studies that have been possible with your model so far.  Unpublished data is encouraged!
10. HLA RESTRICTION AND ANTIBODY RESPONSES: Are there human HLA-restricted CD4 or CD8 responses? Are there antigen-specific human antibody responses and how do antibody titers compare with responses in humans?

Questions to be Addressed by Panel Discussion

1. What are the hindrances to widespread use of the models for pathogenesis studies?
2. What is needed to determine the feasibility of the models for vaccine and therapeutic testing, including testing of microbicides?
3. What can be done to overcome some of the current blocks for the models to support quality assays?  Some of these include CD34 cell suppliers, mice, how cells are treated, virus, others.
4. What can the NIAID/NIH do to facilitate solutions to the above questions?

 

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7:30-8:00	Registration and coffee
8:00-8:15	Welcome – Janet Young and Opendra Sharma
First session chair – Tony Conley
8:15-9:00	Dan Littman – Overview, where we are, how we got here
9:00-9:45	Oliver Keppler: Block-by-block humanization: Advances and challenges in the immunocompetent multi-transgenic rat model of HIV-1 infection
9:45-10:15	BREAK
Second session chair – Fulvia Veronese
10:15-11:00	Ramesh Akkina: Modeling HIV and Dengue viral pathogenesis and therapies in humanized Rag2-/-gamma c-/- (RAG-hu) mouse model
11:00-11:45	Jeremy Luban - HIV-1 infection in CD34+ cord blood cell-transplanted Rag2-/-{gamma}c-/- mice
11:45-12:45	LUNCH
Third Session Chair – Paul Black
12:45-1:30	Lishan Su: Modeling human immunobiology and HIV-1 pathogenesis in the humanized Rag-gammaC- DKO mouse
1:30-2:15	Roberto Speck: The humanized mouse model for studying HIV infection: more tricky than expected
2:15-2:45	BREAK
Fourth Session Chair – Jim Turpin
2:45-3:30	J. Victor Garcia Martinez: BLT mice: a stable, robust and flexible platform for the comprehensive study of HIV/AIDS
3:30-4:45	Panel Discussion and recommendations - Chaired by Harris Goldstein. (All speakers and Vineet Kewalramani, Jeffrey Lifson, and Cheryl Stoddart.)
4:45-5:00	Harris Goldstein – Summary of recommendations of panel, where we are going, and how we get there

 

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For those traveling from out of town, a limited number of rooms have been reserved at the Marriott Bethesda for the night of September 23, 2007. When calling to make your reservations please refer to the Rodent Models Meeting to receive the rate of $195.00 plus 12% tax.   Reservations should be made no later than August 27, 2007 to receive this rate.

Marriott Bethesda
5151 Pooks Hill Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone:  1 (800) 228-9290
www.bethesdamarriott.com

Also, there are a number of hotels in the area in close proximity to the Marriott Bethesda. Some of those hotels are listed below. In addition to these hotels, any hotel that is on the Red Line of Metro system (the Washington, DC, subway) would provide easy access to the hotel. Attendees are encouraged to make reservations as soon as possible because the time of the conference is a very busy season for major meetings in the Metropolitan Washington, DC, area.

Some Hotels in the Area:
Hilton Hotel 1750 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD  20852 Phone: (301) 468-1100 Website	Ramada Inn 1775 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD  20852 Phone: (301) 881-2300 Website
Marriott Bethesda 5151 Pooks Hill Road Bethesda, MD  20814 Phone:  (301) 897-9400 Website	Residence Inn by Marriott 7335 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda, MD  20814 Phone: (301) 718-0200 Website
Hyatt Regency Bethesda 7400 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda, MD  20814 Phone: (301) 657-1234 Website	Bethesda Court Hotel 7740 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda, MD  20814 Phone: (301) 656-2100 Website
DoubleTree Bethesda Hotel 8120 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda, MD  20814 Phone: (301) 718-2588 Website

 

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The Marriott Bethesda Hotel is located approximately 35–40 minutes from Reagan National Airport and approximately 50 minutes from Dulles and Baltimore/ Washington International (BWI) Airports.

By Taxi:  Taxi fare from Reagan National to the Bethesda Marriott Hotel is approximately $45.00–$50.00, is $45.00–$50.00 from Dulles, and approximately $60.00–$65.00 from BWI.

By Shuttle:  SuperShuttle provides ground transportation service from all three airports. For more information and to make a reservation in advance, call 1 (800) 258-3826.  The approximate cost for one-way shuttle service from each airport is:

Reagan National             $25.00
Dulles                           $25.00
BWI                             $30.00

By Metro:  Metrorail, our area subway system operates from National Airport.  If interested you may take the yellow line from National Airport.  Upon arrival at Gallery Place, transfer to the red line train marked Shady Grove or Grosvenor and exit at the Medical Center Station.  The metro fare from National Airport to the Marriott Bethesda is approximately $3.20 one-way.  The Marriott Bethesda provides complimentary shuttle service from the Medical Center metro station to the hotel.  The shuttle service runs every 2 hours beginning from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Parking - $9.00 daily

 

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Lisa Gail 
BL Seamon Corporation
4221 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 245
Lanham, MD 20706
Tel: 301-577-0244, Ext. 22
Fax: 301-577-5261
Lgail@blseamon.com

 

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Janet M. Young, Ph.D.                     
Basic Sciences Program                  
Division of AIDS, NIAID, Room 4152
6700-B Rockledge Drive - MSC 7626
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7626
Tel:  301-496-6714
Fax:  301-402-3211
jy6r@nih.gov