Dear Colleague,

Welcome to the 9th Cytokines & Inflammation Conference to be held on Jan 27-28, 2011 in San Diego, CA.

The GTCbio Cytokine and Inflammation conferences are rapidly becoming a favorite meeting point for academic scientists and industry clinical developers to exchange their complementary approaches in the field of cytokine biology.

In 2011, the conference will cover ever-important topics such as the TNF family, the inflammasome, chemokines, costimulation and innate immunity. In addition, timely coverage will be devoted to areas of current rapid expansion, such as the IL-17 and Th17 fields and JAK/STAT kinases, at a time when phase 2 and even phase 3 studies are being conducted and reported in these areas. Intriguing recently discovered cytokines, such as IL-25, novel alarmins and novel IL-1 family members will also be covered.

A disease focus will intersect the target-centric presentations with emphasis on autoimmunity, cancer and hematologic disorders, bone and cholesterol metabolisms, obesity and infectious diseases. The conference will also cover technological advances in cytokine biology such as bispecific antibodies, latent cytokines, vaccines and cytokine delivery by commensal bacteria.

As usual, poster sessions and opportunities for networking will complement the great roster of distinguished speakers. The organizations participating are a great selection of innovative medical organizations from academia (NIH, UCLA, UCSD, Cleveland Clinic, La Jolla Institute, Virginia Commonwealth U, U Mass, City of Hope, Scripps, Barts and the London), industry (Amgen, Pfizer, MedImmune, Novartis, Centocor/Johnson and Johnson, Biogen Idec, Incyte, Genentech, Genzyme, Chemocentryx) and, last but not -by any means- least, the US FDA.

Sessions of the conference include:
Session I: Cytokines Regulation
Session II: Cytokine and Chemokine Signaling
Session III: Cytokines in Health and Disease
Session IV: Inflammation and Cancer
Session V: Novel Technological Developments in Cytokines
Session VI: Therapeutic Applications of Cytokines and Chemokines

With a 50-50 mix of academic and industry authoritative experts, the conference will cover many current and relevant aspects of cytokine biology from their respective angles. If your work focuses on basic, translational or full development cytokine biology and its applicability to human health, I encourage you to attend this conference which promises to be a fertile ground for scientific exchange and collaboration.

Best Regards,

Conference Chairman: Francisco Leon, MD PhD
VP Translational Medicine, Immunology
Centocor, a Johnson and Johnson company