Final Symposium Program & Schedule

Carl Prausnitz Lecture
K. Frank Austen, MD
Monday, 4 April 2016
12:00 – 13:00

Dr. K. Frank Austen attended Amherst College and Harvard Medical School and served his house staff training years at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).  He established an independent laboratory at the MGH in 1962 and moved to the Robert B. Brigham in 1966 to establish a Department of Rheumatology and Immunology which evolved into a department of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).

After chairing this Department for 25 years, he shifted to the AstraZeneca Professorship of Respiratory and Inflammatory Diseases with an appointment as Director of Inflammation & Allergic Diseases Research Section.  Austen has pioneered many aspects of innate immunity/inflammation through an in depth focus on the functions and regulation of arachidonic acid metabolism to the cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs), the pathways for the development and phenotypic diversity of mast cells, and the pattern recognition path for activation of the alternative complement activating pathway which also serves to amplify the classical complement pathway.  Austen was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1974 and as a foreign member of the Royal Society (UK) in 2004.  Dr. Austen is the recipient of numerous medical awards including election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences (USA), the Royal Society (UK), and the Association of American Physicians, which chose him as the recipient of the prestigious George M. Kober Medal.

Dr. Austen served as President of the American Association of Immunologist, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, and the American Association of Physicians.  He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Paris, Hofstra University, Akron University and Amherst College.

Paul Kallos Lecture
Laurie H. Glimcher, MD
Genetic analysis of immune responses
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
12:00 – 13:00

Dr. Glimcher is the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, where she is also Professor of Medicine. In addition, she is Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University.   Previous to her current positions, she was the Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she was director of the Division of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where she headed the immunology program.

She also served as Senior Physician and Rheumatologist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. As an immunologist, her primary research interests are elucidating the molecular pathways that regulate CD4 T helper cell development and activation, critical for both the development of protective immunity and for the pathophysiologic immune responses underlying autoimmune, infectious and malignant diseases. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. She sits on the Board of Trustees of Cornell University, the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College, the Board of Trustees of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Board of Directors of the New York Blood Foundation and is on the Corporate Board of Directors of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Corporation and the Waters Corporation.

Dr. Glimcher speaks nationally and internationally on rheumatology, immunology, skeletal biology and translational medicine and has contributed more than 350 scholarly articles and papers to the medical literature.

Relaxing Lecture
Tom Johnson
Thursday, 7 April 2016
12:00 – 13:00

Tom Johnson is a lifelong horticulturist whose penchant for sharing horticulture with his professional colleagues and friends has taken him to Europe and Caribbean. Tom’s love of working with plants developed in his youth on a middle-Georgia truck farm. As a member of the Future Farmers of America in high school, Tom oversaw the redesign of downtown Perry, Georgia. The landscaping project won for the city a prestigious national award. At age 16, Tom went to work for a local garden center and landscaping company. After high school, he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College where he majored in plant propagation.   In 1985, when President Jimmy Carter began building his presidential library in Atlanta, he enlisted Tom to help oversee the building of the gardens. That experience lead to Tom being selected for the design team for the construction of the Evan Allen III Pavilion and the Cecil B. Day Chapel.

During the development of the Carter Center Gardens, Tom apprenticed for five years under world-renowned Japanese architect Kinsako Nakane. Tom is among a handful of Americans to have had this opportunity. Later, Tom worked with Shiro Nakane, Kinsako’s son. After a decade at the Carter Presidential Center, Tom returned to middle Georgia to as the national horticulturist with the American Camellia Society. For the next eight years, he managed the society’s camellia collection at Massee Lane Gardens, the society’s national headquarters. In that role, Tom traveled the “Southern camellia belt” advising garden and camellia growers on cultural and propagation issues. He also gave camellia lectures and passionately advocated for a need to preserve older varieties.

While at Massee Lane, Tom was approached by John Drayton Hastie Jr., one of the owners of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston. Hastie had attended one of Tom’s lectures. Tom’s presentation was not limited to the preservation of older azaleas and camellias. He also shared his affection for romantic-style gardens. Hastie was so impressed that he pursued Tom for the next several years, finally convincing him to become Magnolia’s executive director. At Magnolia, Tom’s responsibilities include the restoration of America’s oldest romantic-style garden. Tom is charged with returning Magnolia to the vision the Rev. John Grimké Drayton had when he designed the gardens for his homesick bride in the mid-1800s. This project launched Tom on a worldwide search for azalea and camellia varieties that predate the 1900s. It also spurred him to share his gardening expertise with colleagues in Belgium, France, Barbados and Cuba.

Tom’s association with some of the world’s greatest gardeners and horticulturists has been fruitful for Magnolia. The gardens have garnished the honor of being the first garden in America approved to receive interns from Versailles’ school of landscape design in Paris. Magnolia also took the lead in the creation of the Great Gardens of America Preservation Alliance, a group of gardens, colleges and individuals interested in the preservation of older varieties of azaleas and camellias. Tom is a sought-after speaker across the South. He uses his Southern charm and humor to promote the preservation of azalea and camellia collections around the world. When Tom is asked about his mission at Magnolia, he states simply: “Magnolia is a grand old lady. My job is to shine her shoes, dress her in some new robes, and get her ready for the thousands of suitors that come calling each year. I can think of no better place to finish my career.”

Oral Abstract Sessions
Highly scored abstracts will be placed in Oral Abstract Sessions on 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 April. Oral Abstract Sessions on 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 April will take place at the Francis Marion Hotel.

Poster Sessions
Poster Sessions will take place from 15:00 – 17:00 on 4 April, 17:00 - 19:00 6 April, and 15:00 - 17:45 7 April, at the Francis Marion Hotel. An assortment of wine, cheese and other refreshments will be served. Poster presenters will stand next to their posters during assigned sessions and be available for questions and discussion.

“Life in Science” Breakfast Discussions
These sessions are geared towards young scientists at the beginning of their career. Sessions will be in an informal session where an eminent scientists will share with young investigators some of what they have experienced and learned in their “Life in Science.” Space is limited; sign up online during the registration process.

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