Meeting Announcement: The Immunology of a successful pregnancy

www.regonline.co.uk/ImmPreg2013

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Cineworld: The O2, London, SE10 0DX, UK

‘This event will challenge scientists and clinicians interested in the field of reproductive immunology to evaluate many of the ‘classical concepts’ associated with pregnancy immunology. This event aims to define new approaches to allow a better understanding of immunity during pregnancy that will benefit mothers and foetuses in different clinical scenarios’

This event has CPD accreditation and is part of the 2013 Pregnancy Summit- www.PregnancySummit2013.com

Who Should Attend
Biotech and Pharma Industry Managers: CEOs, Chief Scientists, Group Heads, Senior and Junior Scientists, Research working in the field of immunology and pregnancy

Academic and Research Institutes: Group and Lab Heads, Postdoctoral Scientists and Research Students working in the field of immunology and pregnancy

Clinicians: Anyone working in the field of pregnancy and diagnosing pregnancy-related illnesses and pregnancy outcome

The Deadline for abstract submissions for oral presentation is July10th 2013
Abstracts for poster presentation only can be submitted up to two weeks before the event
There will be a best poster prize.
You can download the instructions for authors at
www.euroscicon.com/AbstractsForOralAndPosterPresentation.pdf

Talk times include 5 – 10 minutes for questions

Talks include

IL-1 family members in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia

Dr Jen Southcombe, University of Oxford, UK
Maternal immunity is modified in pregnancy by a multitude of factors from the placenta that encourage tolerance to the fetus. In pre-eclampsia these modifications are incomplete, and excessive maternal systemic inflammation develops which contributes to the maternal symptoms of proteinuria and hypertension. Interleukins are key regulators of immunity, and increased levels of IL-1alpha/beta/RA are well documented in pre-eclampsia. Eight new members of the IL-1 family have been recently described, with varying roles in inflammation. We have characterised placenta expression and secretion of these factors, and have identified differences in circulating levels between non-pregnant, normal pregnant and pre-eclamptic women.

The Role of Decidual Natural Killer Cells and Macrophages in Early Pregnancy
Dr Rupsha Fraser
Reproductive and Cardiovascular Disease Research Group, Division of Biomedical Sciences St George’s, University of London
A successful pregnancy is dependent on efficient placentation and remodelling of maternal uterine vessels (spiral arteries) to allow sufficient oxygen and nutrients to be delivered to the developing fetus. Decidual natural killer (dNK) cells and macrophages (dMϕs) accumulate around spiral arteries in early pregnancy and are present during uterine spiral artery remodelling. We have modelled the cellular interactions at the maternal-fetal interface., providing the first demonstration of a functional role for dNK cells in influencing vascular cells, and a potential mechanism contributing to impaired vessel remodelling in pregnancies with a higher uterine artery resistance is presented. We also present the phenotypes of dMϕs that may be present during these events, their roles in the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as the effects of dNK-derived factors on dMϕ polarization, and spiral artery remodelling.

Peripheral immune regulation in ovine pregnancy and local immunity in the ovine placental cells

Dr Sean Wattegedera, Moredun Research Institute, UK

Talk to be confirmed

Professor Dilly OC Anumba, MBBS FWACS FRCOG MD LL.M (Medical Law), The University of Sheffield, UK

Talk to be confirmed

Dr Lynne Sykes, Imperial College London

About the Speakers

Rupsha Fraser’s first degree was in Biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh. She subsequently became interested in reproductive biology when doing a Masters at the University of Leeds, where her research was looking into the immunogenetics of pre-eclampsia. She went on to carry out a PhD at St George’s, University of London, investigating the role of decidual natural killer cells in pregnancy, comparing pregnancies that have been defined as normal healthy pregnancies or those that are at high risk of pre-eclampsia development. Since completing her doctoral studies, Rupsha has been working on a postdoctoral project investigating decidual macrophages in early human pregnancy.

Jen Southcombe has a BSc in Biochemistry from Leeds University, and a doctorate in Human Immunology from Oxford University. She has been a post-doctoral research scientist in the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oxford University, for the past five years. Her work focuses on placental derived factors that modulate the maternal immune system in pregnancy, with specific focus on factors that are dysregulated in women with complicated pregnancies. Her current work to investigate IL-33 and ST2 throughout pregnancy is funded by the Wellbeing of Women.

Dilly OC Anumba joined the University of Sheffield in 2003 as Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine following research and clinical training in Newcastle University and hospitals in Yorkshire and the Northern region. He was accredited a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1999, and a subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine in 2001. Since 2003, he has maintained busy clinical and academic roles.

He is interested in the physiology of human parturition, particularly the role of immunity and inflammation in term/preterm labour and pregnancy hypertension. He is also investigating new techniques to predict preterm birth by the detection of cervical remodelling changes. He runs specialist clinics in Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Therapy, Prematurity Prevention, and High Risk Pregnancy, all of which have research spin-offs.
In addition he heads the Education and Training Group, and serve on the Executive Board, of the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society. He is Lead Clinician of the Fetal Medicine Unit, Sheffield and is a member of the NICE Medical Technologies Advisory Committee (MTAC).

Registration Web Site: www.regonline.co.uk/ImmPreg2013

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