Keystone Symposia

Snowbird Resort Floorplan

This meeting took place in 2022


Here are the related meetings in 2024:
Innate Immunity Across the Molecular, Cellular, Tissue and Therapeutic (Z1)

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Innate Immunity: Complement and Beyond (D1)


Organizer(s) Claudia Kemper, Christoph J. Binder and Feng Shao
April 3—6, 2022
Snowbird Resort • Snowbird, UT USA
Abstract Deadline: Jan 6, 2022
Scholarship Deadline: Jan 6, 2022
Discounted Registration Deadline: Feb 2, 2022

Sponsored by AstraZeneca and Genmab A/S

Summary of Meeting:
Innate immunity is a pillar of the host’s defense against infection and noxious self. Pathogen or danger recognition systems (PRRs) including TLRs, inflammasomes, and RIG-I-like receptors are broadly recognized as central nodes of innate immune responses and have a solid place in the immunologists’ hearts. The complement system, however, albeit being the evolutionary oldest PRR, is often perceived as the ‘Stiefkind’ of innate immunity and generally evokes less excitement. This view is changing: complement has recently been up-graded from a mere lytic pathogen-killer to an intracellularly-active orchestrator of normal cell physiology. This, together with the realization that an increasing number of human diseases, among those COVID-19, involve complement perturbations has spurred a regained interest in complement biology and its therapeutic targeting. Our knowledge, however, of how complement exerts non-canonical activities and how it intersects with other PRRs is sparse. This conference will provide a timely account of recent paradigm shifts in our understanding of complement/PRR-instructed immunity with a specific eye on emerging roles in basic cellular processes including regulation of chromatin structure, metabolism, cell death, clearance of cellular debris/corpses, and maintenance of normal CNS function. A second focus is on exploring how aberrant function of these new PRR activities contribute to infection and autoimmunity but also to less intuitive clinical conditions like changes in cognition and behavior. This holistic and ‘complement-inclusive’ vantage-point on PRR biology brings together interdisciplinary investigators from academia and industry for cross-fertilization of novel ideas and collaborations towards biomedical progress in harnessing complement to combat human disease.

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No registration fees are used to fund entertainment or alcohol at this conference

Conference Program    Print  |   View meeting in 12 hr (am/pm) time


The meeting will begin on Sunday, April 3 with registration from 16:00 to 20:00 and a welcome mixer from 18:00 to 20:00. Conference events conclude on Wednesday, April 6 with a closing plenary session from 17:00 to 19:00, followed by a social hour. We recommend return travel on Thursday, April 7 in order to fully experience the meeting.

SUNDAY, APRIL 3

16:00—20:00
Arrival and Registration

Ballroom Lobby
18:00—20:00
Welcome Mixer
No registration fees are used to fund alcohol served at this function.

Ballroom Lobby

MONDAY, APRIL 4

07:00—08:00
Breakfast

Golden Cliff/Eagles
08:00—09:00
Welcome and Keynote Address

Ballroom 2-3
* Claudia Kemper, NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, USA
Session Chair

V. Michael Holers, University of Colorado Denver, USA
Complement Therapeutics: A Long and Winded Road

09:00—11:00
Food for Thought - Complement and Normal Cell Physiology

Ballroom 2-3
* Terje Espevik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Session Chair

* Claudia Kemper, NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, USA
An Unexpected Force from Within: Complement as Key Controller of Basic Cellular Pathways

Coffee Break

Jose A. Villadangos, University of Melbourne, Australia
Cannibalistic Cooperation between Marginal Zone B cells and Dendritic Cells Mediated by Complement

Mihir V. Pendse, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
Short Talk: Macrophages Regulate Gastrointestinal Motility Through Complement Component 1q

11:00—17:00
On Own for Lunch

11:00—13:00
Poster Setup

Superior/Wasatch
13:00—22:00
Poster Viewing

Superior/Wasatch
14:30—16:30
Workshop 1

Ballroom 2-3
* Ashley Frazer-Abel, University of Colorado, USA
Session Chair

Arthur G. Affleck IV, Oregon Health & Science University, USA
A Gut Feeling About Complement in Early Onset Colorectal Cancer

Marilia I. Cascalho, University of Michigan, USA
C3d a Novel Immunotherapy for Cancer

Sanjaya K. Sahu, Washington University in Saint Louis, USA
Intracellular Complement Protein Factor B Promotes Cell Survival

Carlos Donado, Harvard Medical School, USA
Granzyme K Elicits a New Pathway for Complement Activation

Doris Wilflingseder, Insbruck Medical University, Austria
Blocking C5aR in Non-immune Respiratory Cells Prevents Inflated Local C3 Mobilization and Inflammation During Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection

* Joerg Koehl, University of Luebeck, Germany
C5aR1 Mediates Several Functions of Inflammatory Eosinophils driving Experimental Allergic Asthma

Lukas Scheibler, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, USA
Inhibition of VEGF and Complement C3 for the Treatment of Neovascular AMD

16:30—17:00
Coffee Available

Ballroom Lobby
17:00—19:15
Complementing PRR Activities during Host Protection

Ballroom 2-3
Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA
Targeting PANoptosis for the Treatment of Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases

Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA
Single-cell Biology of Barrier Tissues and COVID-19

* Sanjay Ram, University of Massachusetts, USA
An Epic Evolutionary Fight: Complement and Bacteria

* Brooke A. Napier, Portland State University, USA
Short Talk: Macrophage Intrinsic C3aR Works as an Inhibitory GPCR to Enhance TLR4 Endocytosis and TRIF-mediated Signaling

Terje Espevik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Role of the Complement System in Inflammasome Activation Mediated by Cholesterol Crystals

19:15—20:15
Social Hour with Lite Bites
No registration fees are used to fund alcohol served at this function.

Superior/Wasatch
19:30—22:00
Poster Session 1

Superior/Wasatch

TUESDAY, APRIL 5

07:00—08:00
Breakfast

Golden Cliff/Eagles
08:00—11:00
Pores and Pyroptosis – Beyond Inflammasomes

Ballroom 2-3
Judy Lieberman, Harvard University, USA
Gasdermin D Permeabilization of Mitochondrial Inner and Outer Membranes: A point of No Return for Pyroptosis?

Feng Shao, National Institute of Biological Sciences, China
Remote Presentation: Pyroptosis in Antibacterial and Antitumor Immunity

Coffee Break

* Susan Lea, NCI, National Institutes of Health, USA
Poking Holes - Structural Control of Lytic Complement

Thomas J. Schall, ChemoCentryx, USA
Taming, not Killing, the Beast: Novel Complement- Targeting Strategies

* Alex G. Johnson, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA
Short Talk: Bacterial Gasdermins Reveal an Ancient Mechanism of Immune Cell Death

Pooja Parameswaran, University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
Short Talk: An E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Encoded by HSV-1 Inhibits NLRP1-dependent Pyroptosis in Primary Human Keratinocytes

11:00—17:00
On Own for Lunch

11:00—13:00
Poster Setup

Superior/Wasatch
13:00—22:00
Poster Viewing

Superior/Wasatch
14:30—16:30
Workshop 2

Ballroom 2-3
* Markus A. Bosmann, Boston University Medical School, USA
Session Chair

* Dianna Nord, University of Florida, USA
Session Chair

Antonio Gregorio Dias Junior, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Complement-mediated Lysis of Virions and Infected Cells is Associated with Protection from Symptomatic Dengue 3 Virus Infection

Xiaoyu Zhao, University of Virginia, USA
Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase at GBP2-targeted Toxoplasma Gondii Vacuoles Mediates Parasite Killing in Murine Myeloid Cells

Wilfried Posch, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
Complement Enables Immune Sensing of HIV-1 and Early Type I Interferon Responses via Dendritic Cells

Alexandra R. Lucas, Arizona State University, USA
Virus-derived Serpin Blocks Complement and Urokinase-type Plasminogen Receptor (uPAR), Significantly Reducing Lung Inflammation in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Mice

Elisabeth De Leeuw, Inflammation Research Center, Belgium
Efficacy and Safety of the Investigational Complement C5 inhibitor Zilucoplan in Patients Hospitalized with Covid-19: An RCT

Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Lung Epithelial Cell-derived C3 Protects Against Pneumonia-induced Lung Injury

Daniel L. Seiler, University of Luebeck, Germany
C5aR2 Deficiency Ameliorates Inflammation in Murine Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita by Regulating C5a- and FcγR-mediated Functions of Neutrophils

16:30—17:00
Coffee Available

Ballroom Lobby
17:00—19:00
Mopping up the Mess – with Complements from C3

Ballroom 2-3
* Christoph J. Binder, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Keeping the Clearance of Dead Cells Under Control

* Lubka T. Roumenina, INSERM UMRS1138 Cordeliers Research Center, France
Complement in Cancer - Mopping Up or Making the Mess

Nikolina Papac-Milicevic, Medical University Vienna, Austria
Short Talk: Malondialdehyde Epitopes Modulate Opsonization and Efferocytosis

Markus A. Bosmann, Boston University Medical School, USA
Short Talk: Mopping up the Mess of C5a Receptor Redundancy

19:00—20:00
Social Hour with Lite Bites
No registration fees are used to fund alcohol served at this function.

Superior/Wasatch
19:30—22:00
Poster Session 2

Superior/Wasatch

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6

07:00—08:00
Breakfast

Golden Cliff/Eagles
08:00—11:00
Complement Makes for a Beautiful Mind

Ballroom 2-3
* Carlos Donado, Harvard Medical School, USA
Session Chair

Daniel S. Reich, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, USA
What Drives Nonresolving Inflammation in Multiple Sclerosis?

Dorothy Schafer, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, USA
Complement at the Synapse and Beyond: Implications for Neurological Disease

Coffee Break

* Andrea J. Tenner, University of California, Irvine, USA
Strategic Targeting of Complement to Control Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease

Jonathan Kipnis, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Innate Signals Regulating Cognitive Function and Behavior

Marlene Kanmogne, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Short Talk: The Complement Receptor C3aR Promotes Myeloid Cell Survival and CD8 T Cell Recruitment During West Nile Virus neuroinvasive disease

Yingying Zhang, Boston Children's Hospital, USA
Short Talk: Spatial Transcriptomic Profiling of the Complement System in Mouse Brain During Development

11:00—17:00
On Own for Lunch

14:30—16:30
Career Roundtable

Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA

Behdad Afzali, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, USA

Fergus R. Byrne, Boehringer Ingelheim, USA

16:30—17:00
Coffee Available

Ballroom Lobby
17:00—18:45
The Road Less Traveled - Emerging New Paradigms

Ballroom 2-3
* Kate A. Fitzgerald, University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
New Mechanisms of Innate Immune Regulation

* Behdad Afzali, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, USA
Not What We Thought – Unconventional Roles for Complement in Kidney Disease

Christoph Hess, University Hospital Basel/University of Cambridge, Switzerland
Shaping Memory with Magnesium

Natalia Kunz, NIH, USA
Short Talk: A ‘Sweet Spot' for Complement: CD46 Controls T Cell Activity Via Orchestration of Classic Enzymatic and Moonlighting Functions of Glycolytic Enzymes

18:45—19:00
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers)

Ballroom 2-3
19:00—20:00
Social Hour with Lite Bites
No registration fees are used to fund alcohol served at this function.

Ballroom 1-2

THURSDAY, APRIL 7

08:00—08:00
Departure


*Session Chair †Invited, not yet responded.



Keystone Symposia thanks our Sponsors(s) for generously supporting this meeting:

AstraZeneca Genmab A/S

We gratefully acknowledge the generous grant for this conference provided by:


National Institutes of Health

Grant No. 1R13AI169733-01

Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by 1R13AI169733-01 from the National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with co-funding provided by the National Institute Of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases (NIAMS). The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.


We gratefully acknowledge additional support for this conference from:

AdipoGen Life Sciences Science Immunology / AAAS

We gratefully acknowledge additional in-kind support for this conference from those foregoing speaker expense reimbursements:



ChemoCentryx, Inc.


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Special thanks to the following for their support of Keystone Symposia initiatives to increase participation at this meeting by scientists from underrepresented backgrounds:


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If your organization is interested in joining these entities in support of Keystone Symposia, please contact: John Monson, Director of Corporate Relations, Email: johnm@keystonesymposia.org,
Phone:+1 970-262-2690

Click here for more information on Industry Support and Recognition Opportunities.

If you are interested in becoming an advertising/marketing in-kind partner, please contact:
Josh May, Director, Technology and Digital Media, Email: joshuam@keystonesymposia.org,
Phone:+1 970-262-1179