Detailed Program
Viral epidemiology, evolution & genetics
Virus evolution has rapidly expanded, due to the explosive availability of genomic sequencing. Virus evolution is an interdisciplinary field including virology, genomics, evolutionary biology, epidemiology, ecology, and computational biology. Recently, the field of genomic epidemiology is significantly involved in tracking and investigating the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, viral epidemiology, evolution, and genetics will provide the broad and deep understanding of hantaviral evolution.
Replication, transcription, translation, & assembly
The life cycle of a virus plays a critical role in understanding the virus-host interaction. The step of the viral life cycle consists of replication, transcription, translation, and assembly. These processes elicit the production of infectious viral particles. In addition, the metabolism of viruses provides strategies for the development of vaccines and therapeutics. This section will discuss the recent advance in hantavirology including replication, transcription, translation, and assembly.
Immune responses & pathogenesis
The defense mechanism of a host bridges innate and acquired immunities against viral infections. A variety of innate immune cells, T cells, and B cells provide antiviral mechanisms to control the hantavirus infection. However, hantaviruses have evolved with strategies at the cellular and molecular aspects to evade the host immune system. The immune evasion of hantaviruses plays a critical role in developing pathological outcomes. This section will discuss the recent advances in the immune responses to hantaviral infection and its pathogenesis.
Vaccines, therapeutics & clinical aspects
Hantavirus infections cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in humans. There are no effective vaccines and therapeutics against hantaviral diseases although clinical cases occur worldwide. The development of new platform vaccines and therapeutics has been accelerated for prevention and preparedness for the post-COVID-19 pandemic. The clinical aspects of hantavirus-induced diseases contribute to understand the development and strategy of antivirals against hantaviruses. This section will provide a broad and deep knowledge of vaccines, therapeutics, and clinical aspects against hantaviral infections.
Diagnosis & emerging hantaviruses
The establishment of rapid and sensitive diagnostic assays plays a critical role in detecting and characterizing emerging infectious viruses. Recently, advanced technologies, including loop-mediated isothermal amplification and next-generation sequencing, contribute to the development of novel serological and molecular assays for the hantaviral diagnosis. The diagnostics provide rapid responsiveness and preparedness for emerging hantaviral diseases. This section will discuss the recent advance and perspectives of diagnostics and preparedness for hantavirus infections.
Session 1 “Viral epidemiology, evolution & genetics”
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Keynote Speaker : Dr. Gustavo Palacios
(Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA) Presentation Title : How Andes Virus Strain Epuyén Spread: The quest to unravel the Determinants of Human-to-Human Transmission during the Largest Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Outbreak |
| Dr. Gustavo Palacios is the professor at the Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA. He earned the Philosophy of Doctor (Ph.D.) at the School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Palacios focuses on infectious diseases and bio-preparedness against any serious threat that unknown viruses pose to human health. | |
Session 2 “Replication, transcription, translation, & assembly”
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Keynote Speaker : Dr. Eva Mittler
(Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA) Presentation Title : Structural and mechanistic basis of neutralization by a pan-hantavirus protective human antibody |
| Dr. Eva Mittler is the research assistant professor at the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA. She earned the Philosophy of Doctor (Ph.D.) at the Institute of Virology, Philipps University Marburg and the Center for Biological Safety, Robert-Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany. Dr. Mittler has had interests in investigating the mechanism of viral entry and therapeutic antibodies against emerging zoonotic viruses including hantaviruses and filoviruses. | |
Ho Wang Lee Lectureship Awardee of the ICH2023
As a result of careful selection among outstanding researchers in the field of antaviruses from around the world, the ICH 2023 winner of the Ho Wang Lee Award was selected as follows. Congratulations.
Awardee : Dr. Connie Schmaljohn (NIAID, USA)
Dr. Connie Schmaljohn is the Director of the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF-Frederick) where she provides overall scientific leadership to research activities and oversees collaborative research programs to advance medical countermeasures for highly pathogenic viruses. In addition, she serves as an expert consultant and advisor both nationally and internationally on the development of novel vaccine strategies for highly pathogenic viruses. She will provide a honorable lecture titled with "The Hantavirology Continuum” on 14th, June, at the ICH 2023.