Antibody Diversification and DNA Deaminases in Immunity and Cancer

Commemorating the discovery of Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase

The conference will start on June 21^st2022 in the afternoon and end the 23^rd in the evening. We suggest arriving on the 20^th and leaving on the 24^th.

Of note, June 24^th is an important holiday in Quebec (Saint Jean Baptiste Day), so you can stay for the festivities, but the city will be full. We suggest that you secure your travel and lodging in advance.

This meeting, originally scheduled for 2020, commemorates the 20^th anniversary of the discovery of AID (Activation-Induce Cytidine Deaminase), and its role in antibody diversification.

In addition to AID biology, this meeting will be dedicated to other processes that are closely related or have directly derived from this discovery. These include the role of AID in the germinal center reaction, DNA repair during antibody diversification, the genomic landscape during antibody diversification, the role of the AID paralogue enzymes APOBEC in innate immunity, and the development and use of therapeutic antibodies in infectious disease and cancer.

Organizers

Javier Di Noia

(Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal & Department of Medicine, University of Montreal)

Marc-André Langlois

(Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Ottawa)

Rossanna Pezo

(Sunnybrook Research Institute)

Alberto Martin

(Department of Immunology, University of Toronto)

Keynote Speakers

Dr Tasuku Honjo

Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunobiology, Kyoto University, Japan

2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Profile
Unfortunately, Dr. Honjo had to cancel his assistance at the last minute for personal reasons. He will be represented by senior members of his laboratory. We would like to dedicate this meeting to him for the discovery of AID.
Dr Michel Nussenzweig

Rockefeller University, USA

Member of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
Profile
Dr Frederick W Alt

Harvard Medical School, USA

Member of the National Academy of Sciences USA
Profile

Plenary session speakers

Uttiya Basu (USA)
Ashok Bhagwat (USA)
Remi Buisson (USA)
Paolo Casali (USA)
Jayanta Chaudhuri (USA)
Linda Chelico (Canada)
Michel Cogné (France)
Silvo Conticello (Italy)
Michela Di Virgilio (Germany)
Javier Di Noia (Canada)
Patricia Gearhart (USA)
Jean Philippe Julien (Canada)
Garnett Kelsoe (USA)
Amy Kenter (USA)
Maki Kobayashi (Japan)
Marc-André Langlois (Canada)
Mani Larijani (Canada)
Michael H. Malim (UK)
Alberto Martin (Canada)
Alexandre Orthwein (Canada)
Qiang Pan Hammarstrom (Sweden)
Nina Papavasiliou (Germany)
Rushad Pavri (Austria)
Almudena Ramiro (Spain)
Anjana Rao (USA)
Bernardo Reina San Martin (France)
Sergio Roa (Spain)
Susan Ross (USA)
David Schatz (USA)
Kefei Yu (USA)

The organizers would like to thank the institutions and companies that sponsor this event.
Please scroll down for a full list.

Registration

Each attendee must register (go to the Registration tab) and submit the title of their oral or poster presentation, if applicable. As with previous AID workshops, no registration fee will be charged. The organization committee will cover the costs of the meeting (including breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and conference costs). For the moment, the number of participants is limited to 96 due to logistics and places will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis. Once the limit of 96 registrants has been reached, a waiting list will be kept in case there are cancellations or that, funds permitting, we can accommodate additional participants.

Travel and accommodation

Attendees are responsible for booking and paying their own trip (go to the Travel tab for information) and accommodation (on- and off-site options are provided in the Accommodation tab). NOTE: If you need an invitation letter for obtaining a Visa, please communicate with one of the organizers.

Venue

Le Monastère des Augustines in Québec City, QC, Canada

The event will be held at a Quebec and Canadian landmark: a repurposed Monastery of the Augustinian Sisters, who arrived in Canada in 1639, founded 12 hospitals and laid the foundations of health care in Quebec. The Augustinian Monastery located in the old town in Quebec City was fully renovated in 2015 as a non-profit and now secular organization. Organizing this event at the Monastery, an award-winning location that brings together history and modern equipment helps support its social mission that includes programs for caregivers and low-cost accommodation for those accompanying patients at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital next door.

Le Monastère des Augustines

Quebec City is one of North America’s oldest and most charming cities. It was established in the 1500s and is the only fortified city in Canada and the United States. It is a UNESCO heritage site.