Thursday, February 28th.

A.M.
  8:00 -   9:00    On-site Registration
  9:05 -   9:15    Welcome by Arthur Herriott, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Florida International University
  9:15 -   9:30    Announcements & Opening Remarks.
  9:30 - 10:30    Plenary Session I
                        "Evolutions of the immune system within one genus, Xenopus."
                     Louis Du Pasquier, President, International Society for Developmental and Comparative Immunology.
                        Institute of Zoology, Basel University, Switzerland.

10:30 - 10:45    Microarray analysis of sea urchin defensive responses to lipopolysaccharide.
                       by Sham V. Nair, Dept. of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

10:45 - 11:00    Refreshment break

11:00 - 11:15    Serum amyloid A protein in an echinoderm: Expression during immune response and regeneration.
                       by Jose E. Garcia-Arraras, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

11:15 - 11:30    LMPX/7 homologue in a gorgonian coral: Implications for the phylogeny of the immunoproteosome.
                       by Manny L. Herrera, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

11:30 - noon    Alginate production protects Pseudomonas aeruginosa from host immune clearance in a mouse model
                       of acute lung infection by Zhijun Song, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University,
                      Miami, Florida

P.M.
12:00  -  1:30    Lunch Break

  1:30  -  2:30    Plenary Session II
                      "Evolution of the immune system: Studies in cartilaginous fish."
                      Martin Flajnik, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine,
                       University of Maryland, Baltimore.

  2:30  -  3:00   Characterization of clones encoding complement component C3 of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum.
                     by Kyoko Nakamura, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

  3:00  -  3:15   Refreshment break

  3:15  -  3:45   Purification and functional characterization of two novel C4 molecules in rainbow trout.
                       by Hani Boshra, Dept. of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania,
                       Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  3:45  -  4:15    Allelic polymorphism of TCR alpha chain constant domain gene in the bicolor damselfish.
                        by Michael F. Cristiello, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida

  4:15  -  4:45    Immunosenescence in long-lived sea birds? No way.
                        by Victor Apanius, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

Friday, March 1st.

A.M.
  8:15 -   8:50   On-site registration

  8:50 -   9:00   Opening Remarks & Announcements

  9:00 - 10:00   Plenary Session III
                      "Primitive complement system of ascidians, deuterostome invertebrate."
                     Masaru Nonaka, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science,
                      University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

10:00 - 10:30    Cambrian origins for the C3-like ancestor of C3/C4/C5: Analysis of a C3-like gene from a coral/
                       by Larry Dishaw, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

10:30 - 10:45    Refreshment break

10:45 - 11:15    Declining coral health and ongoing coral mortality on reefs of Florida.
                       by Laurie L. Richardson, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

11:15 - 11:30    Apoptosis in allograft rejections of a marine soft coral.
                       by Ana S. Goyos, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

11:30 - 11:45    Immunophysiological responses to urbanization in the Florida Scrub-Jay.
                       by Liza Merly, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

11:45 - noon    The effect of temperature on the allograft rejection rate of the gorgonian coral, Swiftia exserta.
                       by Hilda Ramon, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

P.M.
12:00  - 1:30    Lunch Break

  1:30  - 2:00    Coral "Immunity" Revisited: Reality, Semantics or Context?
                       by Charles H. Bigger, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

  2:00  - 2:30    "Dermo" disease in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica caused by Perkinsus marinus: The role of
                       iron in host-parasite interactions by Gerardo R. Vasta, Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland
                       Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, Maryland

  2:30  - 2:45    In-vitro activation of alginate genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm by simulated immune response with
                       polymorphonuclear leukocytes by Andres Plata, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University,
                       Miami, Florida

  2:45  - 3:00    Refreshment break

  3:00  - 3:30   Shark Complement: What picture is in the jigsaw?
                      by Sylvia L. Smith, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida

  3:30  - 4:00    Awards, Acknowledgments & Closing Comments
 

  4:30  - 6:00    Wine & Cheese reception
 

The Symposium is supported by generous contributions from FIUís Graduate Students Association and several corporate sponsors. Our plenary speakers are sponsored in part by the Comparative Immunology Institute and a program development grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Organizing Committee:
Sylvia L. Smith, Chairperson
Charles Bigger
Nichole Hinds
Kyoko Nakamura
Vicky Salazar
 
 

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This Event is Co-sponsored by:
 
 

Last Update: February 27th, 2002