2022 SMI Newsletter | Issue 2

President's Message

I hope you are all sharing the excitement I have about being able to meet in person and catch up with the latest research in mucosal immunology at ICMI 2022 in Seattle. The ICMI International Program Committee led by Jenny Lund, Steven Ziegler and Mark Travis have been working to organize this event for some time now (given it was postponed due to the pandemic last year) and have put together a great program. I extend my thanks to the co-Chairs, the entire Program Committee and to Jennifer Stalsberg from Association Acumen for all their work to make this meeting a reality we can all enjoy.

In Seattle I will be handing over the baton of the Presidency to Bill Agace who I am very confident will progress the Society over the next two years. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me and the Society over the last 3 years including Elizabeth Schlicht and the entire team at Association Acumen who provide very professional support, Bill and Rod Newberry on the exec and the entire Board and Committee members. I would particularly like to thank for their service outgoing Board members Clare Lloyd, Fernando Chirdo and Ivaylo Ivanov who will finish terms in July, and welcome new Board members Theresa Alenghat, Antiopi Varelias and Mark Travis, and new Young Professional Councilors Kathryn Knoop and Irah King to the Board. If you are interested in getting involved in the Society there are opportunities to join one of our Committees so don’t hesitate to reach out and get involved.

I would like to extend a congratulations to Ben Marsland and the full Mucosal Immunology editorial team on the recently announced increased 2-year Impact Factor of 8.701 for 2021 with 5-year Impact Factor of 9.3. Thank you all for your ongoing efforts to publish strong scientific content in our journal.

Finally, it has been an honour for me to serve as President of the SMI over the last 3 years and I am glad I (just) dodged the gong of being the only President never to hold a scientific meeting. I look forward to seeing you all in Seattle soon.

Kind Regards,

Michael McGuckin, PhD

SMI President

The 20th International Congress of Mucosal Immunology (ICMI 2022) is just weeks away and the faculty for the 2022 Principles of Mucosal Immunology Course have been identified. This course is open to anyone interested in an overview of mucosal immunology and is especially recommended for young investigators and students. Onsite registration opens at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 16^th, but you can still register beforehand for both. Save with your SMI membership and bundle course add-on rate. Register, bring your friends, and learn with us in Seattle!

SMI salutes, Tim Hand, PhD. Catch him at the 2022 Principles of Mucosal Immunology Course for his presentation on Adaptive immune responses to the gut microbiota (IgA, CD4 T cells). Read more, check out Dr. Hand's website and his recent article featured in the Mucosal Immunology Journal, "Regulation of tissue-resident memory T cells by the Microbiota."

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Recent News

David Artis and Wanjun Chen are jointly recognized for the 2022 ICIS-BioLegend William E. Paul Award for their combined contributions to unraveling the exciting and important biology of cytokines. David Artis’ work has pushed the boundaries of conventional approaches to immune defenses, and elucidated the important role of cytokines in host defenses at the barrier surfaces of the gut, skin, and lungs. Wanjun Chen’s work has significantly advanced our understanding of pathogenesis and has led to the development of immunotherapies for autoimmunity, cancer, and infectious diseases. Drs. Artis and Chen will be presented their 2022 BioLegend William E. Paul Awards at Cytokines 2022 Hybrid Joint Meeting with ILC4, to be held 20-23 September, 2022 at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, Big Island, Hawaii USA, and will each give a talk during the meeting.

Attention NIH funded Early Career Reviewer: The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at the National Institutes of Health invites early career

scientists to join our Early Career Reviewer program. Participants gain first-hand NIH grant review experience which can be helpful in preparing their own grants.

In brief, the program is open to those who:

Have at least 1 year of independent research experience (assistant professors and similar roles: associate professors are not eligible and post-docs are not eligible)

Have not held an R01 or equivalent

Have at least one senior-authored publication (first, last, or corresponding) since earning a Ph.D. or M.D. and at least one in the last 2 years

Have submitted an NIH grant application and received the summary statement

Details and the application can be found here.

Questions are welcome.

Mild COVID-19 imprints a long-term inflammatory eicosanoid- and chemokine memory in monocyte-derived macrophages

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. Long-term symptoms of COVID-19 are common after severe disease, but may also affect 15–20% of individuals with previous mild disease. Monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) drive the inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 and contribute to cytokine storms in severe COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 is associated with profound changes in the myeloid compartment, including expansion of dysfunctional, pro-inflammatory monocytes during the first weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Recent studies have identified immunological changes in individuals recovering from severe or moderate acute COVID-19 for up to 12 weeks post infection; however potential immune aberrations in the majority of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, affected by mild disease, have remained obscure.

Mucosal Immunology Journal

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Access to Mucosal Immunology Journal
Reduced page and color fees for papers submitted to Mucosal Immunology

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