Abstract (30 lines max): The purpose of this R13 submission is to request funds for trainees and for a limited number of junior investigator speakers and those from groups traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields to participate in the 2020 FASEB Science Research Conference: The Translational Neuroimmunology Conference: from mechanisms to therapeutics. This will be the 15th FASEB Neuroimmunology conference and will be held at the Babson Executive Conference Center from July 19-23, 2020. The last FASEB meeting was held in Snowmass, CO in 2018, where Dr. Benjamin Segal was elected as co-chair to work with Dr. Thomas Lane who was the 2018 co-chair and is the 2020 chair. The 2020 conference builds upon the excellence of previous meetings and brings together a diverse group of neuroscientists, immunologists, clinicians, microbiologists, translational and basic research scientists at a venue and with a program fostering interaction between individuals with different expertise and at different career stages. Previous evaluations have ranked this conference highly for outstanding presentations and discussion time, for high impact speakers who remain for the duration of the conference, selection of abstracts from junior scientists and graduate trainees for short platform presentations, well-attended poster sessions, time for free and open discussions between speakers and attendees aimed at fostering new and ongoing collaborations. The 2020 program is aimed at defining the contributions of neuroimmune interactions in CNS as it relates to emerging topics including understanding the role of sex chromosomes and neuroinflammation and assessing the role of the innate immune response in neurodegeneration. We also seek to explore the opportunities and challenges for harnessing neuroimmune interactions as therapies for classic neurologic and neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, glioblastoma and CNS autoimmune diseases. In response to evaluation requests from trainees and junior investigators attending the 2018 conference, new this year are addition of two workshops discussing pragmatic issues and careers aimed at bridging pathways from discovery to human therapies and the role of scientific rigor in grant preparation and publication. In aggregate, the specific goals of this conference are to: 1) provide a forum for the presentation of unpublished, cutting-edge research by investigators from diverse fields applicable to neuroimmune regulation of CNS health and disease; 2) provide forums for both formal and informal discussions on how results from complementary fields advance our understanding of how neuroimmune interactions support CNS function and health lifelong and can be modified by genetics, pathogens, toxicants and behavior to drive disease pathology, and 3) ensure development and integration of young investigators from diverse backgrounds and those traditionally under- represented in these fields into the broader research community in a meaningful and interactive way. Altogether, attendees will enjoy a multidisciplinary group of researchers not found together at other specialized conferences and will benefit from the focus on the opportunities & challenges in translating research discoveries to therapies.

Project Narrative The goal of the 2020 FASEB SRC: “The Translational Neuroimmunology Conference: From Mechanisms to Therapeutics” conference is two-fold: First, to bring together members from diverse scientific communities to bridge and foster translational research in the field of neuroimmunology. Second, to provide a supportive interactive platform for trainees and junior investigators from diverse backgrounds who will ultimately make up the next generation of investigators to engage with those more established in their fields.