The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation
Ninth Annual Symposium
Jul 14-17, 2005
Grand Hotel Villa Tuscolana, Frascati, Italy

Structural, Biochemical, and Cellular Aspects of Microbial Pathogenesis

The Foundation Mission

To establish multidisciplinary, basic science research that will support leading scientists at Harvard Medical School and at foremost institutions in Italy, in the pursuit of knowledge and discovery for the benefit of humankind, in the fields of medicine and agriculture.

About the Symposium

More than 20 years after AIDS served notice that the era of infectious disease was not at an end, microbial pathogens still account for more human misery and death than any other cause. This is immensely frustrating for biomedical researchers who hoped that revolutions in molecular biology and genomics would lead to vaccines and treatments that could defeat HIV, malaria, and other major global scourges. Today, it appears that obtaining sharper, more dynamic pictures of the deadly tango danced by pathogens and host cells may be they key to forging these maddeningly elusive weapons against disease.

Detailing the intricate, intimate relations between pathogens and their hosts was the goal of the 9^th Annual Symposium of the Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation, entitled “Structural, Biochemical, and Cellular Aspects of Microbial Pathogenesis.” Eighteen invited speakers and 14 poster presenters demonstrated how important insights into these complex interactions can be obtained with tools as disparate as x-ray crystallography, small molecule screening, and specially reared mice. The Symposium was organized by John Mekalanos, director of the Armenise-Harvard Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and the Host Response, and Steven Harrison, director of the Armenise-Harvard Center for Structural Biology, both at HMS.

In his elegant summary of the two and one-half day symposium, Harrison said that six major themes stood out. Nearly half the presentations explored how viruses or bacteria invade host cells, some as whole organisms and others by injecting secretions into the cell. The second most prevalent topic was immune modulation: the relatively new idea that microbes not only elicit an immune response but also shape development and alter functioning of the host’s own immune system. Other presentations examined a related theme – how disease-causing organisms harness and modify structures in host cells and tissues. A fourth set of talks focused on “non-classical” modification of gene expression in pathogen and host. The remaining speakers addressed translational research, describing how more precise structural and biochemical information can be used to advance development of new vaccines or drugs.

As the Symposium drew to a close, Harrison said participants could not help but feel that “the study of bacteria and viruses and other microbial pathogens is even more exciting, revealing and important than we had imagined.”

This year some 80 scientific participants traveled to Frascati, one of the five “Roman Castle” towns that cling to a volcanic ridge southeast of Rome. The Symposium took place at the Grand Hotel Villa Tuscolana, originally constructed in 1578 as a country home with a panoramic view toward the city. Although the vista is eternal, the villa itself has been expanded into a stately hotel surrounded by gardens constructed 100 years ago. The Symposium drew representatives from Harvard Medical School, one HMS-affiliated center, and one of the medical school’s teaching hospitals. European Union participants came from three Italian universities, two pharmaceutical companies and the Pasteur Institute in France.

Also on hand were twelve Italian science journalists, current and previous winners of the Armenise-Harvard Foundation Italian Science Writer Fellowships awarded over the past six years. This novel initiative seeks to improve the flow of scientific news to Italian readers, viewers, and listeners by providing two reporters the opportunity to participate in the annual Symposium and come to HMS, where they interview dozens of experts. At a special half-day workshop in Frascati, speakers from the scientific sessions briefed the journalists on topics including state-of-the-art microscopy and translation of basic science into drugs and vaccines. This year’s fellows are Paloa Mariano of the Italian press agency, ANSA, and Nicola Nosengo, who writes for the on-line science magazine Galileo. Both contribute often to other Italian publications as well. Over the years, the science writing fellows have generated scores of articles in the Italian press about Armenise-supported research.

In his closing remarks, Harrison announced awards made each year to promising young researchers at Harvard Medical School and Italians studying away from home. Career Development Awards enable young Italian scientists who have been training abroad to return home and open their own laboratories. Neuroscientist Alberto Bacci, this year’s winner, is wrapping up his work as a staff research associate in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center in California. The award supports his move to the European Brain Research Institute (ESRI) in Rome, where he will continue his investigations of different inhibitory mechanisms operating in fast-spiking and low-threshold-spiking interneurons. These mechanisms are involved in the formation of complex networks that underlie various behaviors.

The Junior Faculty Grants recognize outstanding young researchers at HMS. Antoine Van Oijen calls his project “The Unwinding Mystery of the Eukaryotic Replicative Helicase: A Single-Molecule Study.” He’ll carry out this work in the Department of Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology on the quadrangle. The other grant went to Rachel Wilson of the Department of Neurobiology, whose research focuses on early events in the processing of taste information in Drosophila.

Symposium Pages

: About the Symposium
: Presentations