8th International Veterinary Immunology Symposium

Dear Fellow Veterinary Immunologists,

Brazil and the Brazilian Society for Immunology invite you to the 8th International Veterinary Immunology Symposium. It will take place on August 16th-19th 2007, at the Estalagem das Minas Gerais Convention Center. Scientific themes of interest for all areas of veterinary immunology and the beauty of Ouro Preto, a UNESCO World Heritage City, promise to make the 8th IVIS an exciting meeting.

Veterinary Immunologists need not be reminded that our field is the most important basis of knowledge for the development of technologies to promote healthier animals, safer products and international trade without sanitary barriers. The scientific program for the 8th IVIS aims to highlight the contributions that Veterinary Immunology makes towards developing new insights about the Immune System in general. It also aims to bring new concepts that are being developed in Human and Basic Immunology and that may be applied towards understanding of the immune systems from domestic and wild animals.

The program also aims to present the latest research on aspects of immunology that are relevant to animal production systems, such as reproduction, stress and nutrition, which may contribute towards improving these systems and the quality of products they provide. Finally, the program will acquaint participants with the latest developments concerning immune responses, protective or pathological, elicited against prions, microbes and parasites and the interventions that are being developed to control them. Application of modern concepts of Immunology and related fields towards the rational development of vaccines and adjuvants will also be emphasized.

The Local Organizing Committee is striving to derive the maximum information possible from the posters submitted to the IVIS. Posters will be left for viewing during the entire duration of the Symposium as in previous meetings, and the time available for poster exhibition in the presence of presenters has increased. Summaries will be cross-referenced in the program book to facilitate retrieval of information from each area of interest. Key words will therefore be required and, together with summaries, should be online several weeks before IVIS begins. We hope these measures will increase the interactions between presenters and the other participants.

The organizers of the 8th IVIS will continue the tradition of a close alliance with the International Congress of Immunology, which will be held in spectacular Rio de Janeiro, beginning four days after the end of IVIS.

We look forward to seeing you in Ouro Preto,

Isabel de Miranda Santos, 8th IVIS Chair
Beatriz Rossetti Ferreira, 8th IVIS Vice-Chair